Winemaker Notes
This is a Garnacha in the "Gredos" style, bright, mineral, and flowery, ripe but not overripe.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The ungrafted Bobal 2023 P.F. has complexity, elegance and power together with drinkability. It was produced with grapes from 90-year-old vines on sandy soils and fermented with full clusters and indigenous yeasts in 4,500-liter oak vats, where the wine matured for 10 months. This balanced and precise vintage has contained ripeness and alcohol (13%), a pH of 3.6 and 5.7 grams of acidity. This is a wine Ponce has to be very careful with because it can have too much power, the clusters are small and can give concentration and clout. They want to keep the balance, freshness and drinkability throughout its life. The wine is phenomenal and has great precision, plus there's seriousness and complexity, and it's balsamic; you feel the landscape, the Mediterranean herbs, thyme, rosemary and lavender; and it's spicy and has the energy and power with the silkiness of the sandy soils. It has big bones and complexity and is characterful and original. Rating: 96+
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James Suckling
This is so tangy, peppery and bright, with grilled grapefruit, white pepper and touches of botanicals, ginseng, tile and minerals. The palate is full of energy even without the support of high acidity. Instead, this is supple and really firm. Amazing value for the money, with superb drinkability. You could really down this easily, but that doesn’t mean it’s not serious.
Grenache thrives in any warm, Mediterranean climate where ample sunlight allows its clusters to achieve full phenolic ripeness. While Grenache's birthplace is Spain (there called Garnacha), today it is more recognized as the key player in the red blends of the Southern Rhône, namely Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Côtes du Rhône and its villages. Somm Secret—The Italian island of Sardinia produces bold, rustic, single varietal Grenache (there called Cannonau). California, Washington and Australia have achieved found success with Grenache, both flying solo and in blends.
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.