Juan Antonio Ponce

MANCHUELA

Ponce’s family have been vine-growers in the region for generations. The difference is that, like so many of his peers, he was able to travel, and to place his vines and his winemaking in a greater context. Part of that travel included working in Spain with Telmo Rodríguez and Pablo Eguzkiza, who were discovering and reviving old vineyards and local varieties across the country. In his five years with them, he made wine in Rioja, Toro, Málaga, Alicante and Cigales. He also made time to learn about biodynamics in France. The result was that he returned home with two 5,000-litre wooden vats and a batch of 300-litre French oak barrels and set up his winery.

The vineyard? It’s Bobal. And the DO? Manchuela. Neither of these sounds likely to charm consumers, nor does Ponce have the kind of noisy personality to champion his wines. However, the finesse and subtlety of his winemaking has won many friends. He makes Bobal across the range, from the juicy Clos Lojen, to his PF (Pie Franco) made from 3.5ha of 60- to 85-year-old vines on sandy soils.

Recently, he has moved into white wine with a bottling called Reto, from the local Albilla grape. Manchuela may be out of the way, but Ponce has put it firmly on the map.

Ponce, La Estrecha, Manchuela 2016 95 £ 29.50 The Sourcing Table

The La Estrecha vineyard was planted in 1935, on calcareous soils, Bobal with a small amount of other locals such as Moravia and Marisancho. That combination, with 870m of altitude and Ponce’s very low-intervention approach to the winemaking, makes for an excitingly fresh and elegant Bobal, with a light stony character. The oak steps back here – it’s fermented in very large oak vats, then aged in 600L French oak. Biodynamic. Drink 2021-2028 Alc 14%