Benjamin Leiva is the winemaker at Mongras Winery in Colchagua Valley, Chile. While at university, an inspiring professor sparked his interest and set him on a career in wine. After earning a degree in Agricultural Engineering with a specialization in Enology, he spent nearly a decade working harvests around the world to deepen his practical knowledge. His experience spans wineries large and small across France, Chile, Argentina, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Spain, and South Africa, complemented by a Master’s degree in Enology in Spain.
Throughout his journey, he focused on understanding every aspect of the process—from vineyard work to cellar operations—while learning directly from growers and winemaking teams.
Today at MontGras, he leads wines from vineyard to bottle across key Chilean regions: Amaral in coastal Leyda; Ninquén and Gradientes Carmenère in Colchagua; and Intriga Linderos and Intriga Máxima Higueras in Maipo Andes. In Colchagua, he also helps shape enotourism experiences that connect visitors to the landscape, people, and wines at their source. Media Inquiries: Benjamin Leiva bleiva@montgras.cl | https://montgras.cl/
What’s the ONE THING most unique, authentic, & memorable about your brand?
What makes MontGras unique is its focus on place over prestige—committing to distinctive sites and patiently revealing their character in wine.
Two vineyards define that philosophy. Cerro Ninquén in Colchagua, an isolated hill of volcanic soils and varied exposures, yields wines with structure and tension, expressed in Ninquén and Gradientes Carmenère. It’s also central to the winery’s enotourism, where landscape, food, and wine connect.
In Maipo Andes, old pergola-trained Cabernet vines in Linderos—planted in the 1960s—produce low yields but exceptional depth. Though not commercially obvious, they are preserved for the character they bring to Intriga Linderos and Intriga Máxima Higueras. At its core, MontGras chooses character over convenience, crafting wines that reflect the places they come from.
Describe how and what you’d do with your winemaking career or winery business if you were not constrained.
OMG this one is hard, If there were no limitations, I would turn Chile into a living wine laboratory – and a journey people could actually experience.
I’d start in Arica, where I grew up, exploring vineyards shaped by desert, ocean, and Andes, then travel south to Patagonia, focusing not on a “best wine,” but the most honest expression of each place. This would expand into a collection of small, site-driven wines from Chile’s most extreme landscapes.
Every project would follow a “vitiforestry” approach, rooted in water stewardship, climate adaptation, biodiversity, and community value.
Each place would also be experienced through food, wine, and travel—connecting visitors with the land and its people. In the cellar, small-lot experimentation and science would guide the work, balanced by what matters most: sharing wine with others.
What is the One Wine most emblematic of your brand and/or winemaking style? Tell us its story.
Without hesitation: Intriga Linderos Cabernet Sauvignon. Intriga is the clearest expression of both MontGras and my winemaking philosophy because it brings history and the future together in one bottle. The wine combines fruit from two remarkable Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards planted in the 1960s with three younger blocks, now more than eighteen years old. Together they capture the identity of our home in Linderos, at the foothills of the Andes in Maipo.
It is built on balance rather than power alone. The old vines bring depth, texture, complexity and quiet confidence, while the younger vineyards contribute fresh fruit, energy and lift. The result is a Cabernet with structure, but also movement and drinkability.
Every vintage reminds me why this place matters. Intriga Linderos tells the story of a vineyard, a team and a decision to preserve vines that could easily have disappeared. It is the foundation of the Intriga family, whose most precise parcel expression is Intriga Máxima Higueras, and the natural introduction to MontGras: a wine that shows where we come from, what we value and where we are going. Read my review of this intriguing Cabernet Sauvignon.
Bonus Question: If you could create your own superpower, what would it be?
I think I would borrow Captain Planet’s powers (the 90´cartoon hero) and control the natural elements around each vineyard. I would give Amaral in Leyda the exact Pacific freshness it needs, Ninquén in Colchagua the perfect balance of sun, fresh wind and cold night to keep tension, and Intriga in Maipo Andes just enough stress with sunlight, warmth, cool temperatures, refreshing breezes, day-night temperature swings and pleasant cold wind from the top of the Andes to build depth without losing energy. Most importantly, I would guarantee no heat waves, no fires around, lots of rain from after harvest and the right amount of high-quality water – and spare every winemaker those weather surprises that can make us completely crazy. These would be a very useful superpowers!