Colin Harkness visits Bodegas Trenza in Benissa

20 abril, 2026

Colin Harkness

It was ill-health that curtailed my wine judging exploits from the end of December 2018. Wine judging, in fact all things wine, were put on hold, obviously.

Nevertheless, as my health slowly returned, so did my interest in wines and I started looking again at the results of the internal Denominacón de Origen competitions which had, of course, gone on without me. It was that of DO Yecla, where I had been a regular panel member for several years (actually, the first ‘foreigner’ to be invited to judge) that I turned to first, wondering how the winning bodegas from my last and previous sessions had done in my absence.

It was then that a new winery, Bodegas Trenza, caught my eye – this usurper had had the temerity to open with at least one medal on first entering the competition! The standard of wines in DO Yecla is very high, therefore this new kid on the block was making high quality wines right from the off. Over the following years this was proven to be very far from a flash-in-the-pan success – they added to their stockpile of plaudits and medals with each new competition.

Fast forward to 2026 and a Facebook post I saw telling all that a new bodega was soon to open in Benissa – happily just a few kilometres from where I live. The name of the bodega, Bodegas Trenza – yes, a sister bodega to the original in Yecla. The Danish brothers, David Tofterup and Jonas Tofterup MW, flushed with success in Yecla (and I was soon to learn in other areas of production, different DOs around Spain) had decided to expand.

A quick message, as it happened to David, the Co-Owner and Head Winemaker, and I was invited to view the brand new, not quite open (at the time of writing) winery, just off the beaten track in Benissa. Well, my friends, this particular track is very soon going to be well beaten! Bodegas Trenza, Benissa, is a glorious looking bodega, intent on furthering its reputation for making fine wines with the addition of wine tourism and an in situ wine bar to boot.

The Tofterup family moved from Denmark to Spain. Mum and Dad had always been interested in wine and there was always wine in the house. Spain was an ideal choice – inexpensive wines of quality abound here in Spain and after settling into the Malaga area there were trips to wineries to sample their wares. The boys were young, David, ten years older than Jonas was going to be the first who would need to start thinking about a career and sure enough, after passing his A Levels at an International School, and the family’s return to Denmark, he needed to give it some serious attention!

It’s a long story, but without actually planning it too much, David started on a wine related apprenticeship course, which involved college study as well as, the best part, regular internships in Spain as well as different countries, including France, Chile and the USA. He was hooked and when Jonas visited him one time at one of these wineries it occurred to him that he would also like a career in wine. Thus, he embarked on the lengthy and very difficult Wine and Spirits Educational Trust (WSET) series of studies and examinations which led, eventually, to Jonas being confirmed as one of the only 500 or so Masters of Wine in the whole world!

Now, as one who started on the same course, but left it after passing the first Certificate to pursue a different aspect of wine, I can tell you that passing as a Master of Wine is a much coveted qualification and a very prestigious achievement!

So, the brothers Tofterup, were in wine, but from different viewpoints and not yet connected. Of course, they discussed the idea of their working together in some wine related project and eventually concluded, round about the time I stopped attending the DO Yecla competitions, that if they were going to do something together in wine that, was the time.

They approached a large, well-known bodega in Yecla, asking if they could rent parcellas off them, work the vineyards themselves and make their own wine using the host winery’s facilities. Bodegas Trenza was born! The word, ‘trenza’, means braid in Spanish and this is how they see their wine business – two different strands of the wine making concept, oenology and the technical knowledge, being braided together. Their dream had come true.

Their success in Yecla spurred them on to try the same thing in other areas of Spanish wine production: they make Cava in Penedés; white wine in Galicia; reds in Ribera del Duero; whilst continuing to make wine across the style board in Yecla.

It’s for this reason that when I visited this new bodega that I was able to taste some of their wines, despite Bodegas Trenza not yet having produced a single bottle in Benissa! Watch this space, and as you’ll see, reading on, you would do well to watch carefully.

It was a lovely warm, sunny Spring day when I recently visited and by the time I had chatted, probably for an hour with David as we toured the facility, I was ready for a cooling white wine – but more on the wines soon.

Bodegas Trenza, Benissa is an ultra-modern winery that has kept very much to the ancient style of buildings that they took over and reformed. One reason for this is that Benissa Ayuntamiento (Town Hall) insisted that any changes would have to be sympathetic to the history and architecture of the surviving buildings and land. Another reason was because this is what they wanted to do!

Like myself, David and Jonas, are aware that one of the greatest attributes that Spanish wineries have is that most wines have a story behind them, a piece of history which connects the wines and the bodega to the local culture and to the general Spanish culture. Wine is in the Spanish DNA.

The transformed building, as you’ll see, was once a ‘riurau’ – in fact the largest in the local area and one to which others, who didn’t have one, would bring their grapes to dry, ready to be sold as ‘pasas’ or raisons, and sent to Denia for export. Most grapes during those times were for this, not for wine. Indeed, there are records which show that the building was built at least by 1640, possibly before!

Also incorporated into the building is a small area where the local Priest would hear confessions from the family and some of the local people who came here rather than the church. At the boundary of the grounds there is also a building where, for some reason unknown to David and unimageable to me, the Priest was able to keep dynamite! See what I mean about stories behind wines?!

The vineyard nearest to the winery also has a now restored concrete water deposit with the ancient pump still intact for when the land needed some extra moisture. Next to this is a stone, clothes washing area, a ‘lavadero’ – again where the local people could wash their clothes as well as the family that owned it.

The reformation is stunning. Bodegas Trenza will soon be a working winery and even sooner, it will be a wine shop, selling their wines made from all their operations in Spain as well as being a wine bar where people can call in just for a drink of Trenza wines as well as to buy their wines to take out. We can’t wait!

First up for our tasting was their Albariño 2024 from a bodega in Galicia, but not in fact a DO Rías Baixas wine even though it’s made in geographically the same place. It’s complicated, but the wine isn’t, so you don’t need to worry, just drink and enjoy! It has a floral and restrained stoned fruit nose with lovely acidity – perfect for fish and shellfish, as you might expect from this variety and this area.

It was both a privilege to try a tank sample of the 2025 vintage of the same wine, a wine so fresh that the fruit almost jumps out of the glass, and a sensual pleasure. Lovely mouthfeel, juicy fruit indicating a fresh acidity and a quite long finish. This will probably be my second drink when I return – I have to try their Cava, of course!

La Nymphina 2023 (about 12€) was the first red. It has a cool label with the nymph in question making is quite a sexy bottle. Mature tannin adds to the fruit and acidity balance and the high alcohol 14.5 abv is somewhat masked by the general mouthfeel.

Trenza Family Collection is an interesting blend of Monastrell, Cabernet Sauvignon with a little of the unusual (in that the flesh is also coloured) Garnacha Tintorera (aka Alicante Bouchette). It’s dark in the glass, as you’d expect with these varieties and has a powerful presence on the palate also because of the time the Monastrell spent in 500 litre barrels and the Cabernet aged in 300 litre barrels, which provide a touch more oak influence. Good winemaking ensures that the oak adds volume, texture, complexity and only a little detectable flavour and aroma, allowing the fruit to make its mark.

The current flagship wine (who knows if this will eventually be superseded by a wine yet to be made at the Benissa bodega?!) is the single vineyard Rizado. The 2021 vintage which I tasted has quite a complex method of production behind it. The pie franco (original ungrafted, philoxera-resistant root) Monastrell vines are 55 yrs – 60 yrs old. Half the grapes are destemmed with the other 50% being whole bunches, stems and all. Fermentation takes place in open top 500 litre French oak barrels.

Vanilla on the nose followed very quickly and blended immediately with mature, quite rich blackberry and dark cherry fruit, plus a fresh acidity (largely from the 800 metres above sea level). You’ll soon find a little cinnamon and David is quite keen on the note of candied orange peel in there too. Rizado is a relatively expensive wine (60€) – for many, a special occasion wine, and one that the Head Winemaker tells me will last and mature for another 10 years easily and gracefully too!

So, there you have it – Bodegas Trenza is a new venture with a successful, if short history behind it, but one that I suspect will make a significant contribution to the DO Alicante wine scene. Plus, of course, don’t forget that you can call in just for a drink in beautiful, opulent yet rustic, surroundings. Come and say ‘Hola’ when you see me there!

https://bodegastrenza.com/site/

Facebook: Bodegas Trenza Benissa

Instagram: @bodegastrenza