Bodegas Ponce Pino Manchuela / 750mL

The 2023 Pino, a wine that tends to be quite shy when young but showed quite gentle, comes from a vineyard with a strong character, one hectare planted 40 years ago on limestone soils at 800 meters above sea level. The full clusters fermented in a 4,500-liter oak foudre and matured in an oval 3,500-liter oak vat for 10 months. There's some oak in the nose here, spicy and faintly smoky, a serious profile, with big bones, a medium to full-bodied palate and abundant tannins that need time in bottle to be resolved. A second bottle showed less impact from the wood. It has good ripeness, 13.5% alcohol with a pH of 3.5 and 5.8 grams of acidity. It has very good aging potential. 4,000 bottles were produced. It was bottled in late July 2024. A bottle of 2010 felt young, with intense notes of tapenade and tree bark. 95 Points Wine Advocate