The modest workhorse grape bobal is the ugly duckling of Spain and rarely gets much recognition. It’s often used in the production of bulk wines, giving them more color and acid, although often at the expense of overextracting bobal’s bold, rustic tannins. The Bodegas y Viñedos Ponce Bobal Manchuela La Estrecha 2021, however, is anything but conventionally rustic.
Don’t get me wrong: it’s still an austere red, and it’s this austerity that really spoke to me. I was also enchanted by the sheer deprivation of sweetness and big, generous fruit. It has a medium-bright ruby color, linear acidity and effusive aromas of crushed stones, brambly berries, flowers and Mediterranean herbs, and is utterly tactile, pure and mineral – almost pinot-esque in its elegance and finesse.
The wine is made by Juan Antonio Ponce, whose eponymous winery, Bodegas y Viñedos Ponce, has a stronghold in the denominacion de origin (D.O.) of Manchuela in Castilla La Mancha, from which this bobal originates. More precisely, it comes from an old, one-plus-hectare single vineyard on the granitic soils where bush-vine bobal once thrived. The vineyard has a high density, and the distance between the vines is narrow, thus giving it the name La Estrecha, or “the narrow one.”
Ponce uses minimal intervention to bring vitality and terroir characters to the glass, and this means fermentation with indigenous yeast and whole clusters, with the grapes being treated as simply as possible.
Spain has been making more gastronomic and terroir-transparent wines over the last few years – garnachas the best expression of Mediterranean energy, mencias showcasing Atlantic freshness and tempranillos highlighting unique terroirs. But the resurrected indigenous varieties and refinement of rustic grapes like bobal add a fresh and exciting dimension to the country’s wine profile
And Ponce’s bobals don’t stop with La Estrecha. Also try the deeper and more vertical Bodegas y Viñedos Ponce Bobal Manchuela Pino 2021, which is another single-vineyard bobal-based wine but comes from more limestone soils. The best thing about both La Estrecha and Pino is the cost: at $30 or less, it’s insane value.
– Zekun Shuai, Senior Editor
