TALK with Bento Amaral – To Survive

“TO SURVIVE”

Bento Amaral has a great passion for the sea. After an accident on the beach in 1994 that left him tetraplegic, it was at sea that he realized some of his dreams. Among other results, he was World disabled sailing Champion in 2005 and was placed 9th in the Beijing Paralympic Games in 2008.
After 14 years at the head of the Tasting Service of the Institute of Douro and Port Wines (IVDP), he has been Director of Technical Services and Certification of the same Institute, for 9 years, until 2022. In the same year, he founded the Humanwinety company, with three partners, which aims to empower and include less represented groups in society in the wine and hospitality business.
He has been a professor of wine tasting in post-graduate courses Universidade Católica Portuguesa, among other Universities since 1999.
Although he is a university professor, to keep his studies up to date, he is preparing to join the Institute of Master of Wine in 2024.
He regularly gives motivational lectures, having already made more than 500 presentations in the last 20 years.
He is often invited to talk about the integration of disabled people into society, adapted sports and personal and spiritual experience.
Among other distinctions, in 2009 he was awarded by the Portuguese President the title of Officer of the Order of Infante D. Henrique, he was also awarded, in 2014, by the French Government the title Chevalier dans l’Ordre du Mérite Agricole and nominated, in 2020, for "Wine Person of the Year" by the prestigious American magazine Wine Enthusiast. He is happy."