A small village in the Guadalest valley (Marina Baixa), originating in a Muslim farmstead resettled after the expulsion of the Moriscos in 1609.
resettlement 1609; wine and raisins in Madoz 1846; present-day wineries 21st centuryWine and raisins in the Morisco farmstead of the Guadalest valley
Benimantell began as a Muslim farmstead in the Guadalest valley and, after the expulsion of the Moriscos in 1609, was resettled by Christians who came largely from Aragon. In the mid-19th century Madoz's Dictionary (1846) listed among its products wheat, almonds and carob, but also wine and raisins, the two fruits of a dry-farmed vineyard then worked on mountain terraces. That vineyard gradually gave way to almond and olive trees, and the village came to live off tourism in the valley. Today two small wineries have brought it back to the hillside: Masos, belonging to a family settled in the valley for generations, claims that vine-growing on its Mas de Ondara already appears in James I's Llibre del Repartiment, a claim made by the winery itself that does not appear in other sources.
Alive today: Bodega Masos (Mas de Ondara), which according to the family has resumed winemaking after a century of inactivity, and Bodegas Torre Enmedio, an estate with vineyards on the slopes of the valley.