Bodegas Ponce Reto Albilla 2020
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Robert
Parker
Product Details
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Reto has a lovely expression of lemon, pineapple, and lychee, with hints of passion fruit in the background. Lively, fruity, and elegant attack, with notes of tropical fruits, perfectly balanced by citrus and a lovely acidity in the finish.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The white 2020 Reto feels riper and mellower than the 2021 I tasted next to it. This wine fermented in 600-liter barrels and 1,500-liter oak foudres and matured in 600-liter barrels for seven months. It's 13.5% alcohol and has a pH of 3.25. It might be a little tight, with good concentration and mouthfeel, and the nose is getting more expressive, with minerality, in the style of 2012 or 2015, more powerful wines with a little more alcohol and weight but with good acidity. Tasty and saline. This is a vintage to keep.
Other Vintages
2021-
Robert
Parker
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James
Suckling
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Robert
Parker -
James
Suckling
Manchuela, a lesser-known Spanish wine region that is inland from Valencia, is where the Bobal varietal thrives, Known for its thick skins and rusticity, controlling the Bobal’s vigor is what makes for a well-balanced and interesting wine. While there are very few defenders of this region and even fewer winemakers that are dedicated to this varietal, Juan Antonio Ponce stands proud as a master and interpreter of the Bobal grape.
Juan Antonio Ponce began his winery in 2005, at the age of 23. He works biodynamically in the vineyard, and in the winery he takes a natural approach, using low levels of sulfur dioxide. His philosophy is to make natural wines with wild yeast fermentation, to respect the local varietal Bobal and to express its terroir.
Juan Antonio Ponce worked as the right-hand man to Telmo Rodriguez at Cia de Vinos Telmo Rodrigues for 5 years. During this time he was in charge of winemaking, vineyard management, etc. His father, who owned some land in Manchuela, decided to start this project with him.
There are hundreds of white grape varieties grown throughout the world. Some are indigenous specialties capable of producing excellent single varietal wines. Each has its own distinct viticultural characteristics, as well as aroma and flavor profiles.
The Moors gave it the name, ‘Manxa,’ which fittingly means ‘parched earth.’ La Mancha, the largest Spanish wine producing region in all of Spain, is one of its hottest and driest. Sturdy and drought-resistant white varieietes like Airen, Viura and Verdejo thrive in this environment.