Benavente
Zamora · Castile and León
VC Valles de Benavente17.309inhabitants
1115first mention
1338wine documented
A town in northern Zamora, at the confluence of the Esla and the Órbigo. The old hillfort of Malgrat was resettled by Ferdinand II of León, who gave it a fuero (1164, renewed in 1167) under the name of Benavente; from 1398 it was the seat of the county of Benavente.
First mention: 1115: in a donation by Queen Urraca to the church of Compostela the settlement appears as “in Castro quod dicitur Malgrado” (Malgrat, the old name of Benavente). The name Benavente is associated with the fuero of Ferdinand II (1164-1167).
The legend
royal recognition by Alfonso XI, 1338; vineyard ordinances, 15th–16th centuries; Bodegas Otero, 1906Alfonso XI's privilege for the vineyards of Benavente
Benavente, a crossroads town between the Meseta, Galicia and Asturias, made wine one of its medieval engines. In 1338 King Alfonso XI acknowledged the importance of its vineyards, whose wine sufficed for the whole year with enough left over to sell to the Asturians and Galicians. In the 15th and 16th centuries the local authorities issued ordinances to protect the vineyards, because the livelihood of the district depended on them. After a slump in the 17th century, vines spread again through the valleys of the Tera, the Esla and Vidriales, and each family made its wine in bodegas dug on the outskirts of the villages. In 1906 Juan Otero opened an underground bodega in Benavente that is still in his family's hands today.
Alive today: Benavente gives its name to the DOP Valles de Benavente, focused on Prieto Picudo, Tempranillo and Malvasía or Doña Blanca, with a long tradition of rosés. Bodegas Otero, founded in 1906, is still in the town, and the district preserves more than a hundred traditional rock-cut bodegas.
Wineries and their wines
- Impacto Blanco Dulce
- Otero Crianza
- Otero Reserva
- Valleoscuro Mencía
- Valleoscuro Prieto Picudo
- Valleoscuro Rosado
- Valleoscuro Tinto
- Valleoscuro Verdejo
Wine towns nearby