Camille Benitah
USA
Her Napa wines are legendary, it's about time people know the name hidden behind the label
- Camille has been involved in the wonderful world of wine since her school days in Bordeaux, where she worked at a prestigious 17th century Chateaux. She's since moved to California and was the winemaker for one of Napa's sought after cult wines.
- But like all real artists, Camille wanted to make her own wine, her own way - her newly found Angels allow her to do just that. Her dedication to every last drop of her wine and every single step involved in making it, is clear to see and even clearer to taste.
- 'I like the early mornings and the late nights during harvest. I enjoy the people who are tirelessly tending the vines and the land so it can give us a beautiful crop. I love using French hand-crafted barrels and experiencing the wines as they are age. Then, years after, when I open a bottle and take a sip, I remember all the people and all the beautiful landscapes, sunrises and sunsets I saw while making that bottle.'
Camille Winemaker
Camille Benitah's Story
I started when I was in High school, picking grapes in the Chateaux near my hometown in the Pessac-Leognan Appellation. I remember the first time I entered the "Chai", the cellar, I was so impressed! I had so much fun, all young students, in the vineyard surrounding beautiful chateau of the 17th century, so much beauty!
I then worked as a field and lab technician in the French agronomic research station (INRA), where I got all my scientific training. I worked hand to hand with Ph.D students and got to experience all kind of new concepts linked to the production of vegetal. Agriculture, horticulture, forestry and more where part of my daily life for many years, but I was missing something...transforming, processing your crop and make something beautiful with it!
That is why I decided to go back to school and studied in the Chateau School Lycée La Tour Blanche. I did a program designed for young adults where your are connected with a Chateau where you do your hands-on internship and get to hold an apprentice position while you are not going to school. This was a magnificent way to learn and got me to really fall in love with the beauty of vinegrowing and winemaking.
I like the vineyards and tending to them, I like to work in the cellar, I like the smell of the new oak barrels and the dirt the vines grow in. I like the early mornings and the late nights during harvest. I enjoy the people who are tirelessly tending the vines and respecting the land so it can give us a beautiful crop and with the help of the cellars hands being crafting the wines in the cellars as simply as possible.
I love using french hand-crafted barrels and experiencing, tasting often the wines as they are aging is so beautiful, I always think of the man or the woman behind the making of this barrel because it has such strong influence on what the wine is going to become. Then, the wine develops in the bottle and years after, when I open a bottle and take a sip, I can remember all the people and all the beautiful landscapes, sunrises and sunsets I saw while making that bottle.
