Bodegas y Viñedos Ponce ‘Depaula’ Monastrell 2019 - $15.99
STORY
Since taking over his family’s winery at the age of 23, Juan Antonio Ponce, has become a leading figure in Spain for biodynamic winemaking. Though this talented winemaker considers himself a champion of the underappreciated Bobal grape, this month we dive into his single vineyard Monastrell. Traditional winemaking methods coupled with biodynamic principles in the vineyard allow for the character of both the grape and the terroir to shine.
TASTING
Much like the Languedoc is in France, Castilla-La Mancha produces a sea of delicious and inexpensive wine in Spain. It is here that you will find many small family-run estates that have devoted themselves to crafting wines of the highest quality with more than 40 different varieties planted. Monastrell or possibly better known as Mourvedre will shed some of its rustic elements with a solid decant. This serious and yet simple wine deserves a seriously simple dish like our recipe for One Pan Crispy Chicken with Rice.
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Castilla-La Mancha lies South of Madrid and enjoys ideal conditions. High altitude vineyards, cool nights and sunny days, and limestone soils. Juan’s philosophy is to make natural wines with wild yeast fermentations, low levels of sulfur, and to vinify each lot separately to allow its personality to shine – a steal at its price.
* Cheese Tip: For a perfect pairing, try Bonde du Poitou or Tomme de Chambrille with this wine.
TUNES FOR YOUR JUICE
by Liza Morgioni
Painting (Masterpiece)- Lewis Del Mar
Juan Antonio Ponce is considered both a master and also a defender of native Manchuela grape varietals. After five years of working with the vigneron Telmo Rodriguez, he left at only 23 years old to start his own winery, one that he envisioned would do justice to the Manchuela terroir and highlight the grapes that are grown there. His father helped him make his dream into a reality, and now here we are drinking this bold, lively Monastrell.
Lewis Del Mar’s Painting (Masterpiece) is all about fulfilling potential and reaching for the stars no matter what anyone says. Now, I don’t know that Juan necessarily had anyone who seriously doubted him, but in a feature-film dramatization of his life they would probably throw in some sort of antagonist to keep things interesting.
In an interview with AfroPunk Entertainment, the band said about this track: “growing up in a time of excess has forced us, as artists, to focus on simplicity”. Juan seems to share the same sentiment, choosing to take a biodynamic approach with his wines by harvesting grapes by hand, relying only on native wild yeasts, and using low levels of sulfur dioxide in order to treat his grapes with the utmost respect.