Bendito Destino ‘Hontanares’ 2021

Very limited availability – max. 1 bottle per customer

Since star sommelier-turned-winemaker Terry Kandylis released his first wines at Keeling Andrew’s portfolio tasting in 2023, fans have been eagerly anticipating the inaugural release of Bendito Destino’s single-vineyard cuvées.

Established by Terry in 2020, Bendito Destino comprises 4ha of rejuvenated centennial bush vines – mainly Tempranillo, Garnacha, and Albillo, co-planted with rare local varieties – around the village of Canalejas de Peñafiel in Ribera del Duero.

In a region that has become known for ripe, highly extracted wines, Terry pursues the complete opposite, drawing on Burgundian techniques with gentle punch downs and extractions to highlight the purity of his fruit. Harvested at night and destemmed by hand, grapes are foot trodden and fermented with wild yeasts before ageing in a variety of vessels, from concrete tanks to top-of-the-range François Frères and Taransaud barrels.

In addition to his excellent ‘village’ wines – Albillo Mayor, Clarete, and a red Field Blend – Terry crafts six site-specific cuvées in miniscule volumes of just a few hundred bottles. Combining textural harmony and weight of fruit with a wonderful sense of vitality and immediacy, they effortlessly prove their credentials as future Ribera fine wine classics.

A 0.3ha plot of Tempranillo, Garnacha, Valenciano, Albillo, Pirulés, and Alarije. Dense and powerful – supple dark fruit, balsamic, violet. So elegant. 275 bottles produced.