The de Benito
family's connection with the world of wine started in the 1970s
when the father of the present generation that run Bodegas Veracuz
bought a bodega in Nava del Rey.
It was
his decision to follow the French Chateau pattern, putting the
Bodega alongside the vineyards, a revolutionary step for those
times in the Rueda area.
The de
Benito family were pioneers in applying new wine-making techniques
in order to change the style of the wines, taking them from the
dullish, high alcohol wines made from over-ripe Verdejo to today's
wines which are an explosion of aromas, fruit and
freshness.
Nava
del Rey was chosen as the site for the Bodega chiefly because of
its privileged position within the Rueda D.O. Its proximity to the
Duero River means that it benefits more from the Atlantic winds and
at the same time, the contrasting daytime and night temperatures,
both helping achieve the optimum critical balance between acidity
and sugar levels in the grapes grown there.
Furthermore,
Nava del Rey is one of the villages in the Rueda DO with the
longest and most celebrated winemaking tradition, their wines being
the forerunners of the new white wine production throughout
Rueda.
The
intention was and still is to create a small bodega, completely
committed to quality, combining both the Rueda wine-making
tradition reaching back to the arrival of the Arabs in the Iberian
peninsular in the XI century) and the innovation and creativity
that are essential for producing fine wines from the Verdejo grape
variety.