Ribera del Duero

The Wine Advocate: "Tasted just before bottling, so a sample of the final blend, the 2023 PSI is juicy, ripe and approachable. It is a little showier and headier, despite having similar alcohol to the bottled 2022 (perhaps a tad higher, but not quite reaching 14%), and it feels a little riper, with peachy notes and some decayed flowers. It has abundant tannins and feels like it's in need of some more time in bottle. This is usually the case for PSI: the tannins need time. They are resolved quite quickly, but it does need a bit of time. It should be bottled in May 2025."

The Wine Advocate: "The bottled 2020 Pingus has settled, and the strong Mediterranean accent that was quite strong early on seems to have calmed down. The wine shows more of the serious Pingus character and is harmonious, balanced and elegant, perhaps because of the time it spent in oak vat (starting this year, it is not only in barrique). It feels very complete and intense but without weight or heaviness, and the fruit shows very clean and focused. Peter Sisseck compared it with the 2000, a wine that for him transcends the vintage; it showcases the balance (wines like 1996, 2000, 2012, 2016 and 2018). The quality of the tannins is stunning, which make the wine very elegant and balanced, and it has good freshness (even some red fruit!). This is exceptionally good, but somehow my heart didn't beat like with the wines he compared them with... 7,500 bottles were filled in July 2022.

The Wine Advocate: "The subtle, austere and nuanced sample of the 2021 Pingus I tasted was harmonious, balanced and elegant. It's basically pure Tempranillo from La Horra that is young but surprisingly harmonious, very precise, clean, pure, with no apparent oak despite being a barrel sample. The wine is maturing in barrels that were previously used for PSI; Sisseck purchased a couple of 1,500-liter oak vats that he's using for PSI, and he still doesn't know if he's going to age part of Pingus in it. Purity, elegance and precision. The wine is medium-bodied, the tannins super fine and the mouthfeel is velvety, with a restrained 13.8% alcohol. There should be around 8,200 bottles, and the expectation today is to bottle it around June 2023."

The Wine Advocate: "The bottled 2022 Pingus is quite dark and feels ripe, powerful and a little shy, coming through as serious. It has notes of ripe peach, dark berries and notions of soil. It was vinified with 25% full clusters. It has ripeness and concentration and is powerful, serious, quite tannic, chalky and slightly dusty, with a dry finish. Since 2012, they have used 100% barrels that have had Flor de Pingus (and perhaps PSI) for 12 months, and for Sisseck, maybe that makes the wine a little more reserved, more closed; and if it had a small percentage of new barrels, it would probably be more open and expressive. It's very long and has very fine tannins. Around 8,000 bottles were filled in early July 2024."

The Wine Advocate: "There was a big frost in 2024, and they could save 50% of their own vineyards with burners; so there were like two different harvests for the 2024 Flor de Pingus. The part that was frosted was riper and ripened faster, so they had to pick those grapes early to avoid too much alcohol because high alcohol interferes too much. They were very precise, and all the lots had 10% new barrels instead of having one lot all in new barrels. There are different lots, and he did a hypothetical blend of what the wine might be, including the press wine. The wine is very primary, clean, expressive and precise. It has a medium-bodied palate with fine tannins with some grip and a chalky feeling. There will be some 78,000 bottles, a lot less than in previous years, all because of the frost."

The Wine Advocate: "The nose of the 2024 Pingus is surprisingly harmonious, floral, perhaps a little more herbal, more subtle and not super showy or in your face, with some toast from the barrels at the core. He saved all the grapes from the frost of April 23-24 using burners. ("The candles and all the stuff cost me 60,000 Euros," explained Sisseck. "It was completely crazy, but we saved Pingus. After that, they installed big burners in the vineyard...) This was the first year when the temperature during the fermentation went up in a couple of vats, as the fermentation is quite stable and always done in the same way and in the same vats; but this time, the fermentations were a little more complicated. The wine is juicy and has fine tannins; it's not a showy vintage, perhaps a little in the style of 2014? There are some 23 or 24 barrels selected for Pingus at the moment, a little less than in 2023."

The Wine Advocate: "Tasted just before bottling, so a sample of the final blend, the 2023 PSI is juicy, ripe and approachable. It is a little showier and headier, despite having similar alcohol to the bottled 2022 (perhaps a tad higher, but not quite reaching 14%), and it feels a little riper, with peachy notes and some decayed flowers. It has abundant tannins and feels like it's in need of some more time in bottle. This is usually the case for PSI: the tannins need time. They are resolved quite quickly, but it does need a bit of time. It should be bottled in May 2025."

Weinwisser: "René Gabriel, kann auch anders. 1990 Unico Vega Sicilia Kann man einen Herbstwald trinken? Ja, aber es braucht dabei eine Zuhilfenahme von Tempranillo- Trauben aus dem Ribera del Duero. Dann belässt man die gesamte Ernte nach dem Barriqueausbau für ganze zehn Jahre in einem einzigen, ganz großen Holzfass, füllt ihn in Flaschen ab und lässt ihn dann noch zwei Jahre in der Flasche warten, bis zum Verkauf. Das war früher so und ist auch heute noch so. Nur – wer alte Vegas kennt, der richtet sich auf muskulöse, strähnige, ja in gewisser Weise gezehrte Rotweine ein. Aber beim 90er ist alles anders! Das liegt wohl am hohen pH-Wert, also an der niedrigen Säure. So ist dieser berauschend süsse und eben auch waldbodige, noch nie offiziell gekürte Spanien- Premium opulent und im wahrsten Sinne gaumenfüllend. Und ich zittere jedes Mal, wenn ich eine Flasche öffne, denn jedes zweite Exemplar ist leider irgendwie korkig. Das war wieder mal eine «erste Flasche», ohne jeden Makel. Da klappern bei jedem Schluck die spanischen Tempranillo-Kastagnetten!"