Bendito Destino 'Navazal' Clarete 2022

In 2020, star sommelier Terry Kandylis found himself in Ribera del Duero. Here, in the hills around Canalejas de Peñafiel, he came upon some very old, abandoned vineyards. Within weeks, he had set up Bendito Destino ('Blessed Destiny') and begun restoring four hectares of Tempranillo, Garnacha, and Albillo vines using dry farming and organics.

The Bendito Destino vineyards range from 30 to more than 100 years old. Most of the wines are field blends, with multiple varieties co-fermented by plot. In a region known for ripe, highly extracted wines, Terry does things differently, drawing on Burgundian techniques to bring out the elegance and purity of the fruit. Fermentations are with wild yeasts, and ageing takes place in a variety of vessels, from concrete tanks to top-of-the-range barrels.

While the entry level 'El Camino del Destino' and the ‘village’ wines are superb, Terry also crafts site-specific cuvées in minuscule volumes. These are astonishingly complex, and are already taking their rightful place alongside the best of new wave Spain.