Ponce 2019

Crítica

2020 > 98 puntos
The eponymous red 2020 Ponce is, according to Juan António Ponce, the best wine he's ever produced. 2020 was a very healthy vintage and they got very good Moravia Agria grapes that represent some 20% of the blend here complementing Bobal. It fermented with 100% full clusters in 4,500-liter oak vats and matured in 600-liter French oak barrels for 12 months. It's 13% alcohol and has a pH of 3.55 with 5.3 grams of acidity. It's a very perfect vintage; the absence of rain meant very clean and perfect Moravia grapes, and they could produce a little more of this wine than in 2019. There's more backbone here, but it's in the style of the 2018 as for the depth and complexity, than the 2019. It has finesse and amazing tastiness and is beautifully textured, with a chalky finish. This has to be one of the finest wines in central Spain. 4,300 bottles were filled in September 2021.
2019 > 96 puntos
The 2019 Ponce red is a blend of Bobal from granite soils with 15% Moravia Agria from limestone soils that fermented with 100% full clusters in 4,500-liter French oak vats with natural yeasts and matured in 600-liter French oak barrels. It's fine, elegant, fresh and Mediterranean. It's 13% alcohol and has a pH of 3.57. This is the palest of the reds, with an ethereal profile, light and elegant. It's a lighter vintage; they got some 40 liters of rain during the harvest, and the Moravia Agria doesn't take ran that well, as it has a very thin skin. 3,100 bottles were filled unfined and unfiltered in September 2020.
2018 > 97 puntos
After 15 years of searching, they have come up with a blend of 85% Bobal and 15% Moravia Agria that they thought worthy of carrying their surname, which is what the new top of the range 2018 Ponce is. It was produced with grapes from a vineyard in Villanueva de la Jara planted with Bobal and Moravia Agria on stony soils with sand and limestone mother rock (tosca). They vinified the two varieties separately and then selected the two 600-liter barrels that showed more elegance and finesse. After fermenting with 100% full clusters and indigenous yeasts, the wine from those barrels was kept longer with the lees in a 4,500-liter oak vat. What came to my mind was Monty Python: "And now for something completely different!" It's only 12.5% alcohol, and the color is surprisingly light, almost like a Trousseau from the Jura. The nose is reticent, insinuating and nuanced, shy rather than showy but with detail and changing by the minute. Wet chalk, flowers, herbs and a smoky/flinty touch develop slowly. The palate reveals great inner strength, energy and light, focused and precise, with beautiful symmetry. There is rusticity, elegance and length, chalky and with an almost salty finish. This has to be the most elegant wine ever produced by Ponce and possibly the most elegant Bobal ... in the world? This is more Burgundian than Rhône. It has all the ingredients and balance to develop nicely and for a long time in bottle. 1,991 bottles were filled in February 2020. There will also be a white Ponce in the future.