Dominio del Bendito

After a long search, Frenchman Antony Terryn found the perfect terroir in the Toro region.

Before founding Bodega Dominio del Bendito, the French winemaker Antony Terryn spent several years working in different wineries in France, South Africa and the US. In search of the perfect terroir, Mr. Terryn arrived by chance in Toro in the year 2003. Because of the unique characteristics of the area -abundance of very old vines, harsh climate, sandy soils- he decided to settle down in the region to start his personal project.

Bodega Dominio del Bendito currently owns 21 hectares of Tinta de Toro vineyards. Interestingly, 80% of the vines are over 85 years old -including some planted in the XIXth century, years before the phylloxera outbreak.- The other 20% are 15 to 35 years of age. The vineyards are farmed following organic principles and environmentally friendly techniques.

The headquarter of Dominio del Bendito is located in a historic building in Toro, meticulously refurbished and equipped with state-of-the-art winemaking technology. Vinification takes place in two kinds of containers. The boldest and most concentrated red wines, which require long maceration periods, are fermented in concrete diposits; the rest are fermented in stainless steel tanks. In both cases, the wines are fermented with native yeasts.

Despite his remarkable technical expertise, Mr. Terryn is above all an intuitive winemaker who lets his instincts guide the process. As in the vineyard, when working in the cellar he follows a minimal intervention, sort of “hands-off” approach. To his mind, this is the best way to make wines which convey the essence of terroir. Once the vinification process is completed, all of the wines from bodega Dominio del Bendito are aged in French and American oak barrels for variable periods of time.

Nowadays, the wines from Dominio del Bendito rank among the deepest and most elegant red wines produced in DO Toro.