About the Producer
Bodegas Ponce was founded by Juan Antonio Ponce in 2005, aged just 23. His family had been growing grapes in the region for generations but had not previously bottled their own wines. This small estate is situated in Manchuela, just west of Valencia. The often-overlooked Bobal is the dominant grape variety in this territory and, together with Ribera del Júcar and Utiel-Requena, Manchuela completes the trio of Denominación de Origen. The Ponce family owns over 50 hectares of vineyard in the villages of Iniesta, Villanueva de la Jara, Villamalea and Mahora, and tend to produce small volumes of multiple wines from different parcels. Juan Antonio’s approach expresses the nuances between vineyard sites and his estate is farmed according to biodynamic principles. While the estate is best known for the wines produced from Bobal, there are also wines from Garnacha (Grenache) and Monastrell (Mourvedre). The winemaking methods at Ponce are remarkably traditional, though with very little added sulphur dioxide. The aim is to produce wines as naturally as possible. The grapes are fermented with their stems. Considerable care is taken to avoid extracting harsh tannins from the skins of the fruit, particularly with Bobal and Monastrell which are thick-skinned varieties. The wines are usually aged in large barrels of 600 litres for 10-12 months before being bottled with no fining or filtration. Alcohol levels are relatively low – the grapes invariably achieve a slow, even ripeness at high altitudes (largely 600 to 700 metres) and they obtain pleasant acidity. Monastrell, for example, could easily be expected to sit at around 14-15% alcohol in a lower lying vineyard in this climate, whereas Ponce’s Monastrell is 12.5%. And, while Garnacha can push even higher in some instances, here they manage to maintain similar alcohol levels. Balance is therefore naturally attained in the vineyard and is reflective of the elegant, fresh, and balanced Ponce style.