What?
Juice 2019, Clos Lojen, Bobal, Bodegas Ponce, Manchuela, SPA
Grape Bobal 100%
Farming Certified Organic, Practising Biodynamic, Vegan
ABV 12.5%
Tasting Note A ripe nose with warm, plummy dark cherry and blackberry fruit, and a hint of baked cherry pie. Medium bodied, the palate is ripe but with a pronounced savoury, spicy, structured edge and drying yet fine tannins.
Who?
Juan Antonio Ponce is a leading figure in biodynamic and minimal intervention winemaking in his native Cuenca. After working with the legendary Telmo Rodríguez and Pablo Eguzkiza on a number of their projects throughout Spain, Juan Antonio spent time in France learning about biodynamics and how he could apply those techniques to his own vineyards in Manchuela. His vineyards are at high altitude, with some plots at 950m above see level, sitting on a combination of clay, limestone and sandstone soils. His vines are between 30 and 90 years old, and some of them are still planted on their original root stocks ensuring wonderful concentration.
Why?
Much like Toni Sarrion from Bodega Mustiguillo, Juan Antonio works wonders with the unfashionable local grape Bobal. In the winery, his ethos is to let the wine make itself, the bunches are not de-stemmed which means semi-carbonic maceration occurs in the tank, and all the wines are fermented and aged in neutral oak to let each parcel reflect its own personality. We think his juicy, spicy, vibrant expression of this indigenous variety is just outstanding and oh so drinkable with or without accompanying food.
With?
Loads of ripe spicy black and red fruit and wonderful freshness call for a dish that has a little undercurrent of spice and we quite like the idea of a Vindaloo, our choice of protein is lamb though this can be replaced quite easily with other meats or subtracted all together. If Vindaloo is too much for your spice buds to handle you could slip into a Rogan Josh quite easily too in fact any curries with a red base would work wonders. On a completely unrelated vegetarian pairing we think it would be quite delicious with a Ratatouille if you turn the spice up a little, all those peppers and Mediterranean veg would be banging with the juicy, vibrant, brambly characters of the wine. Huzzah!!
