2022 Bendito Destino Los Castaños

$215.00

Los Castaños is a blend of several plots in Canalejas de Peñafiel, including two of Bendito Destino’s most prestigious ones in La Cabaña and El Olmar. The former is normally the last plot harvested as it’s north facing, whilst the latter one of the first. The uneven phenolic ripeness of 2022, as well as the heat spikes resulted in harvesting everything earlier and after a few blending trials the team decided that the blend that year, was superior to the individual wines. In the winery, destemming was done by hand to preserve the whole berries, and there was a total of 35% stem inclusion.

A portion of the blend was pressed with a basket press and made in a Clarete style, to balance the tannins and add freshness, and the rest was pressed after only 15 days on the skins. Elevage took place in 500L Francois Freres puncheons, and the wine saw only one racking pre bottling after 24 months. Castaños is the nickname of the people in Canalejas de Peñafiel, and it was given to the wine to pay homage to the generations.

Bendito Destino crafted this wine as a blend of their two most prestigious vineyards, La Cabaña and El Olmar, which delivered exceptional quality in 2022 despite the challenges of extreme heat and drought. Phenolic ripening was uneven that year, prompting a cautious approach. To balance the vintage’s intensity, part of the wine was vinified as a deep-colored Claret, aged separately, and then blended back. The result evokes a slightly riper Chianti, inspiring a connection to Sangiovese and a sense of having made a “Classico” in Ribera del Duero.

12 in stock

Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate

The 2022 Los Castaños, which means “the chestnut trees” in Spanish but is also the nickname of the people from Canalejas, is a blend from different plots in their village planted with a field blend dominated by Tinto Fino with Garnacha, Bobal, Albillo, Malvasía and Pirulés.

The grapes were hand-destemmed, and they used around 35% of the stems for the fermentation. It matured in 500-liter French oak barrels for 24 months. Part of the wine was made as a deep-colored clarete, which was blended back into the red to achieve less extraction and craft a wine that is fresh despite the warmth of the vintage. This has a serious and harmonious profile that’s a little Chianti-like, lifted, balanced and nuanced. It comes in at 13.6% alcohol and with a pH of 3.5, which is quite amazing and balanced for the conditions of the year. I love the elegance and the balance. 2,590 bottles produced. It was bottled in August 2024. 94 points

Mike Bennie, The Wine Front

A blend of several plots in Canalejas de Penafiel, including the prestigious La Cabana and El Olmar ones. The first part of the wine was made ala deep clarete (red and white co-ferment rose) then the rest sees more serious red wine from the sites blended in after skin fermentation.

Succulent, fine boned, squeaky with ripples of light, silty tannin. Very minerally, dark cherry, licks of cola, mint chocolate, some smoked paprika and toasty, brown spices. Firm and bright, a tart acid profile finishes things, somewhat out of the wine. Lovely dark and brooding sense to the wine. Curious expression. 92 points