Ponce Blanco 2022

Crítica

2021 > 95 puntos
Juan António Ponce compared the white 2021 Reto with the 2013 and 2018, to him the best vintage of this wine so far. It was produced with the local Albilla grape, not to be confused with the Albillo from other regions, a grape that can transmit an incredible sense of freshness in a warm place like Manchuela. They now have new vineyards that they planted in the village of Villanueva de la Jara that ripen up to 15 days later and deliver vibrant wines with a more pungent saline sensation and an electric mouthfeel. This 12.5% alcohol wine has a pH of 3.15 and 6.2 grams of acidity (measured in tartaric acid per liter of wine). This is sharp and austere, mineral and electric when young, with an intense salinity and a vibrant and electric finish. Unbelievable for the price. With the experience of previous vintages, this should develop tremendously in bottle. 15,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in March 2022. In 2021, they saved wine to produce a new top-of-the-range white to complete the red Ponce, so there will be a 2021 Ponce Blanco.
2020 > 94 puntos
The white 2020 Reto feels riper and mellower than the 2021 I tasted next to it. This wine fermented in 600-liter barrels and 1,500-liter oak foudres and matured in 600-liter barrels for seven months. It's 13.5% alcohol and has a pH of 3.25. It might be a little tight, with good concentration and mouthfeel, and the nose is getting more expressive, with minerality, in the style of 2012 or 2015, more powerful wines with a little more alcohol and weight but with good acidity. Tasty and saline. This is a vintage to keep. 15,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in March 2021.
2019 > 93+ puntos
For the only white produced here, whose current vintage is the 2019 Reto, they want dry weather before and during the harvest, as they don't macerate the skins and do a direct pressing, so they want the grapes to be concentrated and dry. It fermented in 600-liter barrels and a 1,500-liter foudre with indigenous yeasts and was kept with lees for seven months. As I saw in other wines from 2019, this is a little more expressive than other years, more approachable and possibly easier to understand. It was harvested around the 15th of August, more normal dates than, for example, 2018, which was extremely early. It has the signature tasty and saline character of the grape, supple and long, still austere and sharp, especially given the zone and the year. 15,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in March 2020.