Winemaker Notes
Juan Antonio Ponce's wine, crafted from 40–60-year-old Bobal vines in Manchuela, defies expectations with its unique process involving 100% whole clusters and aging in old wooden vats. Its bouquet blends earthy dark red fruits with notes of clove, spice, and leather. On the palate, bright strawberry flavors meet a chalky, firm finish, adorned with lingering hints of spice and earthiness.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Lifted wild bramble fruit and red cherries, with herbal and floral notes, showing hints of geraniums and white pepper. Fruity but not simple, with robust bobal tannins balancing the flowers and the plump cherry fruit. Bright and appetizing, with a pristine finish. From organically grown grapes.
Bobal is enjoying a mini renaissance in Spain today as high-elevation vineyards in its homeland of Utiel-Requena produce dense and velvety wines dominated by dark berry and cocoa characteristics. However, its function as Spain’s second most planted red grape variety was once only for bulk wine and concentrate. Since it is drought-resistant, it does well grown as unirrigated bush vines and acts as a fine voice of terroir. Somm Secret—Bobal also shows great potential for rosé and sparkling wines because of its high levels of acidity and anthocyanins.
The Moors gave it the name, ‘Manxa,’ which fittingly means ‘parched earth.’ La Mancha, the largest Spanish wine producing region in all of Spain, is one of its hottest and driest. Sturdy and drought-resistant white varieietes like Airen, Viura and Verdejo thrive in this environment.