Benjamin stared his journey in the Caunes, Minervois in 2007 with just 6 hectares of vines. He has carefully added vineyards in both the black schist of the Coteaux above the village and the clay and limestone to the south. These two contrasting soils are reflected in the palette of colours in the wines, but there is no doubt that stylistically they are from the same cellar. Benjamin makes wines to enjoy, drink, and return to. He works the vineyards organically (with no chemical influence beyond sulphur) and uses infusion extraction processes in the cellar; eschewing the longer macerations, new oak and long aged wine that this region has come to champion.

His cellar, in the village is in two buildings, one for the larger vats; and the original, smaller cave is where his amphora eggs and a few demi muid are kept for his more ‘serious’ wines. Benjamin has the look of a grafter, he does a good deal of the vineyard work himself and has a keen eye for detail when walking the vines, with intricate knowledge of each plot, each vine and which terroir works best with each variety. Eska is his biggest worry at the moment, but he has a careful and well thought out plan to cope with it (it can’t be eradicated) and is busy planting new vineyards with varieties that he feels will cope with the warming globe e.g. Terret Gris and Grenache Gris.