Bodegas y Viñedos de Ponce Manchuela

I recently spent a few days in La Mancha, the world’s largest vineyard with over 150 thousand hectares of vines. To put it in perspective, La Mancha has more land under vines than all of Australia. At one time it was the source of much uninspiring bulk wine or distilled into brandy, but there are now a growing number of interesting small growers who champion the local grapes (mainly Tempranillo, called Cencibel here) and Airén, a white grape variety. I tasted a number of really exciting wines, proof that La Mancha is capable of much more than volume. However, it was also great to visit a few large wineries who produce inexpensive, easy-drinking wine that we can all afford to drink.

The visit was supported by the EU, Viño de España.

Bodegas y Viñedos de Ponce

One of the highlights of my trip was to Bodegas y Viñedos Ponce. These wines, available in many of our independent wine shops and wine bars, are well worth seeking out. The wines are elegant and fresh and offer excellent value for money.

Ponce has been to the fore in rehabilitating a number of local grape varieties. Not only does he make great wines from Albilla and Bobal, he also produces some excellent, refined Monastrell and Garnacha. Viticulture is biodynamic and the winemaking very hands-off.

The winery is small and crowded. The harvest was in full swing when I visited, with grapes bubbling away in open top fermenters. I tasted one of my first wines from the 2024 vintage here.

Juan Antonio Ponce produced his first wine here in 2007. Prior to that he spent 2021-2025 working with Telmo Rodríguez and his winemaker Pablo Eguzkiza in various vineyards around Spain. He obviously has huge respect for both men and you sense they gave him the confidence and experience to come back to his roots and make wine using local grape varieties.

His family lives locally, about 12 kilometres from the winery, and had been supplying grapes to the co-operative for several generations. Ponce has 12 hectares of vines, with a mix of calcareous and sandy soils.

He works exclusively with Mediterranean grapes, mainly Bobal and Albilla (a local variety, not the same as Albillo). In addition, he grows Garnacha, the little-known Moravia and others. But he made his name with Bobal, a variety scorned by much of the wine world until recently.

Many consumers may not have come across it but Bobal is the third most widely-planted variety in Spain, after Tempranillo and Airén. It is very popular in La Mancha and the South-East and Utiel-Requena in particular. It buds late and has good resistance to drought. The wines typically are deeply coloured with high acidity and tannins. Despite this it is sometimes used to make rosés and even sparkling wines. Ponce was one of the first to make quality wines from this variety. ” There is no typicity for Bobal”, he tells me. “The character of any wine comes from the people and the vineyard.” He is very talkative, passionate, inquisitive, and obviously a very talented winemaker.

All of his vines are grown en vaso or gobelet with no irrigation. Most are 40-90 years old. “Everything,” he says, “is very traditional.” Most of the vineyards are at 800 metres. The exception is a parcel of 100-year-old ungrafted Bobal that are at 900 metres. “This region is facing problems, but it is a good time for traditional growers. You have to respect the vineyards and the grapes.” All of his wines are organic. “It is impossible to find good old vineyards, so now I have to plant new ones.” These include Albillo, Garnacha, Monastrell and some Bobal.

He began the 2024 white harvest on the 5th of August, the 14th for the reds. Monastrell is always the last to be picked. Ponce grows it at height where it has a long cool ripening, giving it an elegance. “The grapes ripen at a much lower alcohol here than in Jumilla.Garnacha is unique as it adapts and works well in Priorat, Rioja, Madrid and the South-East too.”

In the cellar, everything is fermented in open top fermenters using indigenous yeasts and aged in large old large wooden casks. He does no fining, filtration or clarification. “The oak gives my wines a natural stabilisation.” There is no temperature control for the red wines.

The Ponce wines are a world away from the typical massive, oaky extracted tannic wines of the region. All the wines I tasted were 13% abv or less and were marked by a purity and freshness. They also offer excellent value for money. “For me it is very important to offer good value. I make some inexpensive wines so the consumer will come back, and some will try my more expensive wines.”

I tasted eleven Ponce wines during my visit. They are available from good independent wine shops.

Ponce Blanco 2025 Manchuela
Fresh racy pear and melon fruits with a subtle salinity. Made from 100% Albilla. 12,000 bottles made. €22-24.

Ponce Selección 2022, Manchuela
Complex, creamy, textured and elegant with a subtle herbiness and a fine mineral edge. 100% Albilla. €23 15.5/20

Clos Lojen 2023
100% Bobal from 40-60 year old vines picked from two plots. 100% whole berry fermentation. Delicious pure savoury ripe plums. Juicy and fresh. A real vin de soif.
€16.50-€17 15.5/20

La Xara Garnacha 2023
100% Garnacha. Fresh wild strawberries. Vibrant and moreish with a mineral edge and a lovely elegance.
€19 16/20

Depaula 2023
100% Monastrell. Whole berry fermentation. Lovely succulent dark fruits, garrigue herbs and tobacco. Real concentration. It does have tannins, but they are well-integrated. €16.50-€17 15/20

Buena Pinta 2022
Made from the Moravia variety – ‘you either love it or you hate it”, says Ponce. It starts off with juicy ripe dark fruits and finishes with a very dry tannic finish. Okay but overly tannic at present for my taste. 14.5/20

La Casilla 2023
100% Bobal. Lovely concentrated sweet dark fruits, some Mediterranean herbs and tobacco. Nice grip and real elegance. €22-23. 16+/20

PF 2023
100% Bobal, made from a parcel of 100-year-old ungrafted vines. Intense earthy sweet ripe dark fruits and black olives with plenty of structure and excellent length.
€32.50 17/20

La Estrecha 2023
A single vineyard wine, 4,000 bottles produced, from 75-year-old Bobal wines with 10-15% ‘others’. Ethereal. Floral, Garnacha – like with complex strawberries, spice and a lovely lingering finish. A real star. 18/20

Pino 2023
100% Bobal from calcerous soils, 3,000 bottles. Linear with lovely long elegant dark fruits and very fine tannins. Fantastic wine. €32.50 17/20