2024 Ponce Depaula Monastrell

Tucked away in Manchuela, roughly two and a half hours south of Madrid, Juan Antonio Ponce is quietly producing some the best value Spanish wines. After honing his craft under Telmo Rodriguez and spending a formative stint in Beaujolais, Juan Antonio returned to his family's 80-year-old vineyards in Iniesta to prove that the often-maligned Bobal grape could be a vehicle for world-class elegance rather than just rustic bulk wine. By farming 70 hectares of high-altitude, dry-grown vines with incredibly low density, he maintains a meagre average yield of just 2 tonnes per hectare, resulting in a modest annual production of 170,000 bottles that prioritise concentration and freshness. His signature move is a 100% whole-cluster fermentation for all his reds, a technique that, combined with the region's nutrient-rich soils and 800m+ elevation, produces wines that are remarkably fragrant, poised, and powerful.

Rich and juicy with a youthful vibrancy tensing up a touch on the rustic yet elegant finish.

Midnight black in colour with a dark purple red hue. Delightful dark raspberry, liquorice and dark cherry aromas blossom from the glass with some Mediterranean herb, blueberry and subtle scorched earth notes lending further interest. Rich, juicy raspberry, liquorice and cherry fruits bounce across the palate with a youthful vibrancy. Infusions of Mediterranean herbs, earth and spicy blueberry sit in the background. Fresh and energetic with slightly chalky tannins, it tenses up a touch on the rustic yet elegant finish.
Drink over the next 5-6 years.
Alc. 14%

Other Reviews....
The one red that is different, produced with Monastrell grapes, is the 2024 Depaula, which for Juan António shows more varietal character this year, with notes he describes as tomato vine and balsamic. 2024 was very low yielding and ripeness was high, and the wines have more volume. This has 14% alcohol (a full 1% more than in 2023), a pH of 3.65 and 5.8 grams of acidity. The vines are getting older and show more nuance and balance each year. The grapes are from a vineyard he purchased in the village of Mahora. They fermented with 100% full clusters in 4,500-liter oak vats, where the wine matured. It's a little more serious, dark and earthy than the reds from other varieties, and it has elegant rusticity. The tannins are very fine, and the wine is approachable, but it has the seriousness the variety can have. Again, this overdelivers for the price. This is the last vintage that the wine will come from one single vineyard, as the new plantings came into production in 2025, which will add more freshness to the 2025 wine. 12,500 bottles produced. It was bottled in May 2025. Drink 2026-2032.
93 Points
Luis Gutiérrez - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate