The D.O. Manchuela is home to Bodegas Ponce, which makes some of the region’s best wines. It’s also one of the firms responsible for the comeback of an almost unknown grape variety that had practically disappeared: Moravia Agria, the basis of its Ponce Buena Pinta 2022. This artisanal red, made from grapes with their stems, reflects the purity of grapes from ungrafted vines. This unique wine produced in limited quantities (6000 bottles) and refined for 7 months in French oak vats is highly nuanced and complex. Definitely worth trying.
Consumption features
Serving temperature
Consumption time
General features
Type of wine
Region
Grape variety
100% Moravia agria
Type of barrel
4500-litre French oak vats
Type of bottle
Burgundy
Barrel aging time
7 months
Capacity (cl)
75
Alcohol content (% vol.)
12.5
General Information
Ponce Buena Pinta 2022 is one of the firm’s most exclusive and unusual wines as it’s made from a variety that had practically died out and is only accepted in the Denominación de Origen Manchuela: Moravia Agria. One of its main characteristics is its superb acidity, which makes it particularly appreciated in these current times of climate change.
This red comes from a single vineyard owned by the winery that’s only 2.5 hectares in size and more than 60 years old, with fine sandy and slightly pebbly soils. Bearing in mind the complexity of a variety as old as Moravia Agria and the purity of grapes grown on ungrafted vines, the result is a wine rich in nuances, highly complex and unique in the area.
Like the rest of the firm’s wines, it was fermented with native yeasts and with all the stems to achieve the greatest possible purity. It was then matured in 4500-litre French oak vats for 7 months. It was bottled without being clarified or filtered and only 6000 bottles were produced.
The D.O. Manchuela stretches from the south of Cuenca to the north of Albacete and spans nearly 14,900 hectares of vines at an altitude of between 600 and 700 metres with clay soils and lime subsoils. The main grape varieties are the white Macabeo and the red Bobal, though other Mediterranean varieties are also grown there such as Moravia Agria, Monastrell and Garnacha, as well as an abundance of French varieties.
Founded in 2005 in Villanueva de La Jara (Cuenca) by Juan Antonio Ponce, Bodegas y Viñedos Ponce owns 30 hectares of vineyards and makes use of a further 35 hectares that are rented or belong to the family. Its philosophy consists in creating wines with a distinctive identity that reflect the potential of their vines as fully as possible, with highly respectful grape growing and winemaking practices. All its wines are made using native yeasts and complete their fermentation in wooden vats of different capacities. Another of its characteristics is that it dispenses with filtering and clarification. The aim is to create wines with a good balance between alcohol and acidity.
Ponce Buena Pinta 2022 (D.O. Manchuela) goes perfectly with beef hotpot or fillet of pork in a pepper sauce.