Flor de Pingus

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, Jun/2024

2022 -

"The nose of the 2022 Flor de Pingus has a peachy note (peche de vigne!). It's perfumed, elegant, more fruit-driven, tender, delicate and ripe without excess (but possibly the ripest of the 2022s, perhaps the influence of the younger vines). It has a tender palate with glossy tannins and a rounder mouthfeel. The finish is dry, even a little austere, with fine chalkiness. In general, the 2022s showed quite well, much better than expected. The wine was blended and clarified and is in tank waiting to be bottled. They expect to bottle the 2022s in June (or late May). They expect some 89,000 bottles, a little less because the young vines suffered more with the heat."

James Suckling, Aug/2023

2021 -

"Dark cherries, ripe but fresh blueberries, slate, violets and a hint of graphite. There is lushness of fruit but it remains fresh and very primary in the middle with powdery tannins and a long, even finish. Has volume and linearity as well. Drink or hold."

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, Jan/2023

2021 -

"I love the 2021 Flor de Pingus, a more ethereal vintage that is very harmonious. A co-fermentation of some 3% Garnacha with Tempranillo, it's an elegant wine in the style of 2018 and 2016, subtle and very balanced, with elegant tannins that give it very good silkiness. It is focused and fresh and has a sense of harmony and very integrated oak. There will be 104,000 bottles to be bottled around June 2023."

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, Jun/2024

2021 -

"The 2021 Flor de Pingus is a village wine from La Horra, made with small vinifications by plot and then a blending exercise, so it's the wine they feel is most their style. They look for texture, looking for a delicate and elegant wine. The nose is very subtle and harmonious, super clean and with a lot of focus. There are no traces of oak on the nose. The profile of the wine is more in line with 2018 or 2016 than with 2015 or 2019. This has a velvety texture, an elegant mouthfeel and some restraint (he thinks the warm summer in 2021 made the plants slow down), and it is fresher than the wine from 2020. There's a very fine thread, with chalky and very elegant tannins. This delivered what the wine promised from barrel. Starting in 2023, the wine will be certified organic. They produced around 96,300 bottles and some larger formats. It was bottled in June 2023."

Antonio Galloni's Vinous, Sep/2023

2021 -

"The 2021 Flor de Pingus hails from several vineyards in La Horra, Ribera del Duero and spent 18 months in French oak barrels. Purple in hue. The complex, subtle aromas include sour cherry and blueberry intertwined with rose, herbs and garrigue hints. On the palate, it's dry and velvety, with a balanced, fairly intense, chalky character that's low on freshness but high on energy. This is a distinctive, delicious red that reflects a modern approach to Ribera."

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, Jun/2022

2021 -

"The yields for the 2021 Flor de Pingus were "normal" according to Sisseck, who considers it a more serious vintage for this cuvée, as they have planted some eight hectares of Garnacha (which represents maybe 3% in this blend) that was co-fermented with the Tempranillo and acted as a way to make it fresher. It's a little more austere, in line with the 2018, as 2019 was riper and 2020 a little more diluted. Yields in 2021 were lower than in 2018. The wine is subtle and a little backward but very balanced, with a polished palate and very fine tannins, focused, fresh and with a sense of harmony and purity that I liked. The oak is very integrated, and the wine is quite perfumed and elegant. This has 14.2% alcohol but it doesn't feel like it at all; the wine is juicy and balanced, a little austere, which I liked, but at the same time it feels quite polished. There might be around 100,000 bottles, and today they expect to give it a little more time in barrel, to bottle it perhaps around June 2023."

Wine Spectator, Jul/2024

2021 -

"Shows a lovely counterpoint between freshness and generosity, with good energy and drive to the expressive range of plum sauce and warm fig flavors, plus accents of vanilla, cedar, leafy herbs and spices. Firm, fine-grained tannins show supple integration, emerging on the long and fragrant finish. Drink now through 2036."

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, Oct/2021

2020 -

"The sample I tasted of the 2020 Flor de Pingus was from a single barrique, so perhaps not 100% representative of what the final blend might be. But it feels really harmonious and elegant, with contained ripeness and very nice integration of the oak. The nose is super aromatic and floral, and the wine is perfumed and showy. The palate is surprisingly powerful, with some tannins that need polishing. It's going to need some more time in barrel. There will be some 110,000 bottles that they expect to bottle in July 2022."

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, Jan/2023

2020 -

"There is around 20% new oak in the 2020 Flor de Pingus, and because it has a little younger vines (there was a land-consolidation project in La Horra in 2006!), there'll be some Garnacha starting in 2021 and maybe some oak vats for aging too. All this shows the direction, where he found structure and volume in the palate, with textured tannins. It's harmonious and elegant, aromatic and floral, perfumed and showy, with contained ripeness and around 14% alcohol. The palate is quite powerful, with abundant but fine tannins. 110,000 bottles were filled in July 2022."

James Suckling, Dec/2022

2020 -

"Aromas of perfumes and violets with blueberries follow through to a medium body with very fine tannins that run the length of the wine and show muscle and length. Linear and toned. Give this time to open and show you more. Try after 2026."

James Suckling, Sep/2021

2019 -

"Blackberries, black cherries and hot crushed stones with cement and black licorice. Subtle yet complex aromas. Medium to full body and an exquisite texture, with intense tannins and a long, flavorful finish. The verve and mouth-feel is luxurious and captivating. This is very structured. Try after 2024."

Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate, Sep/2020

2019 -

"The cask sample of 2019 Flor de Pingus is truly impressive and really shows what Sisseck was talking about: ripeness (more blue fruit), finesse and freshness, with super elegant and round tannins. There is great balance, and it feels very complete. They took the risk to harvest when nobody else was harvesting; I think they made the right decision, but it was not without risk. This is a superb interpretation of the conditions of the 2019 vintage. 2019 was a lower-yielding year, so they expect to produce a little less wine, around 112,000 bottles that should be filled in July 2021."

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, Oct/2021

2019 -

"The 2019 Flor de Pingus is marginally riper than the PSI and Pingus from the same vintage but still shows the freshness and finesse the cask sample showed a little over one year ago. The wine has more concentration than the 2018, and it has absorbed the oak quite well. They use maybe 20% new barrels for the élevage here. It has abundant, fine-grained tannins. It's a powerful vintage of flor, reflecting the solar vintage, but still keeping the poise, harvesting early and fermenting at low temperature. 108,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in July 2021."

Wine Spectator, Oct/2022

2019 -

"A sleek, finely meshed red that's graceful overall but compact, with notes of baked black raspberry, kirsch, brambly herbs, violet and mandarin orange peel slowly unfolding on the palate. This has an underlying streak of minerally iron, smoke and sinewy tannins that emerge on the spiced finish. Drink now through 2029."

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, Jun/2021

2018 -

"Like the rest of the wines, I tasted the bottled 2018 Flor de Pingus—which I tasted unbottled last year—next to the 2019 that will be bottled in June 2021, and it was great to see how the wines reflected the character of the two vintages. All of the estate vineyards are certified organic, and this is pure Tinta del País, the local strain of Tempranillo, from 40 hectares in five different locations (parajes) of the village of La Horra where the Pingus vineyards are also located. It fermented with natural yeasts and also natural malolactic and matured for 18 months in French oak barrels, 25% new. The day I tasted it, the wine was oakier than normal, but the amount of new oak is not higher than normal. The palate showed much better, with very fine and polished tannins. There is freshness, even red fruit and good balance. The oak should integrate with a little more time in bottle. 120,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in July 2020."

James Suckling, Jun/2021

2018 -

"A ripe, layered red with plum, black-cherry and some toasted oak. It’s full-bodied with rounded tannins, but there’s a lively edge to the wine as well. Subtle and fine. Sort of shy still. Drink or hold."

James Suckling, Jul/2019

2017 -

"A chunky and pretty young wine with blueberries and blackberries and chocolate. Chewy tannins that are polished and fresh. Full-bodied. Round and sexy. Shows lots of potential."

Antonio Galloni's Vinous, Jan/2021

2017 -

"Inky, bright-rimmed ruby. Intensely perfumed aromas of ripe dark berries, cherry preserves, vanilla, pipe tobacco and candied flowers, with a spicy flourish adding lift. Stains the palate with concentrated black and blue fruit, floral pastille and spicecake flavors that become more lively as the wine opens up. The floral and cherry notes carry through the strikingly long, sweet, youthfully tannic finish, which features a hint of candied licorice."

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, Dec/2019

2017 -

"Because of very low yields and a warm and dry season, the 2017 Flor de Pingus was produced from very concentrated grapes with lots of tannin, so they had to do a very soft vinification and an extended élevage, being very careful not to dry out the wine. So, they used less new oak barrels, and the wine was alternatively in barrique and stainless steel, trying to polish the tannins and keep the juiciness and avoid excessive tannins. So, the wine is polished, more than it usually is. It's ripe but without the perfect ripeness of a great vintage. It has character, in a somehow more baroque way. Peter Sisseck compared it to other vintages finished in seven: 1997, 2007. They only produced some 60,000 bottles, when the normal production should have been around 100,000 bottles, which means they lost some 40% of the crop because of the frost. It was bottled in July 2019, later than in other vintages."

James Suckling, Jul/2019

2016 -

"Chalky and intense with so much blackberry character. Some smoke, too. Full body. Firm and chewy with lots of fruit, but a tight and linear finish. Chewy and intense. Needs a year or two to open, but already a joy. Better after 2021."

Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate, Aug/2018

2016 -

“I caught the 2016 Flor de Pingus days before it was due for bottling, so what I tasted was the final blend (done after the time in barrel was over) that was just settling in tank before being bottled. The paradox of 2016 is that it was a warm year, but the resulting wines have great freshness, which also happened in 1996 (one of my favorite old vintages of Pingus). The yields were higher, which brought more freshness to the wines; and the wines are airier and not as compact as, for example, 2015. In fact, what they have been doing for some time now is to work in viticulture—the pruning and what you do with the canopy—to achieve slightly higher yields and get the plants to balance, because as you increase the yields, the ripening takes longer. Even though it’s young, this shows amazing perfume that should bloom with a year in bottle. This has all the signals to become one of the greatest vintages of Flor de Pingus. They expect to fill some 105,000 bottles in June 2018. I already look forward to tasting this in my next round, after it has spent a year or more in bottle.”

James Suckling, Jul/2017

2015 -

#41 Top 100 Spanish Wines of 2017 "Almost black-purple color. Dense black fruits aromas, fine oak and elegant dry tannins that are beautifuly integrated in the rich body. The long finish is already graceful thanks to the spot-on balance. Drink now."

James Suckling, Nov/2018

2015 -

TOP 100 SPANISH WINES 2018 "Very sexy wine with blueberry, blackberry and floral aromas and flavors. It’s medium-to-full bodied, with wonderful finesse and depth. All about polish. Give it three or four years to show you it all. Try in 2021."

Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate, Aug/2018

2015 -

"The 2015 Flor de Pingus is produced with a majority of grapes from vineyards in La Horra, a total of 30.8 hectares of vineyards in different zones of the village, so it's their village bottling from different soils. The different quarters (El Pino, Fuentearriba, Fuentenarro and Castillo) are fermented separately. Sisseck has replanted some plots as they were done before: with riparia roots planted earlier and grafted to a massal selection two years after. He was able to do this in Hacienda Monasterio when he arrived, but these new plantings are not yet in production. So, Flor de Pingus is all old vines fermented in stainless steel with indigenous yeasts (he hasn't needed to use selected yeasts since 2001 or so, and always in special circumstances) and matured in oak barrels, mostly used and some of different sizes. 2015 is a powerful, warm and ripe year, where the secret was to be able to harvest early to keep the freshness; Sisseck feared the year could have been another 2011, but he managed much fresher wines. The nose is very harmonious and shows no heat, and the palate is terribly balanced, with refined tannins, silky and in a way exuberant (rather than rough), ripe but suave and with enough freshness. It has the Ribera del Duero character and is also faithful to the vintage and grape, with great precision. All in all, a great vintage of Flor de Pingus, with power and elegance. Some 90,000 bottles were filled in June 2017. This should age effortlessly in bottle.

I tasted the bottled 2015s, the about-to-be-bottled 2016s and some barrel samples of the 2017s with Peter Sisseck. 2016 could be the modern version of 1996, and in 2015, a warmer vintage that could have turned into something similar to 2011, the wines have great freshness and are closer to 2010 than 2011, even if the years are completely different. 2015 Pingus is terrific and 2016 Pingus can be another legend in the making... I also had the chance to preview the 2017s in barrel, and I felt the wines were very young and resisted writing them up. Sisseck considers it one of the most challenging vintages he has seen in Ribera del Duero, and he plans on having shorter élevage. But the 2017 Pingus was very precise and harmonious, even at such young age. Something to look forward to in the future."

Wine Spectator, Apr/2018

2015 -

James Suckling, Dec/2016

2014 -

"Aromas of blackberries, smoke and cedar. Round and full-bodied with firm tannins. Dried-fruit finish. Shows smoke and berry undertones. The real deal. Better in 2018."

Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate, Feb/2017

2014 -

“The 2014 Flor de Pingus could very well be the finest vintage of this cuvée ever. It could be considered their ‘village’ wine, as all the grapes come from La Horra, from four different quarters (El Pino, Fuentearriba, Fuentenarro and Castillo); they are mostly old vines, as they have some 25 hectares of those in the village, mostly from the 1950s. In the future it will also have some grapes from younger vineyards they planted ‘à l’ancien’, with a massale selection of Amelia, riparia rootstocks, etc. The wine is very aromatic and expressive, floral and spicy, with the oak nicely folded into the fruit, which is ripe without excess, and the alcohol is also nicely disguised, as it’s high but does not show. It’s a powerful and full-bodied vintage for this cuvée, but keeping its approachability and appeal. The tannins are very fine and the finish quite remarkable. A mini-Pingus at a very different price. 92,000 bottles were filled in July 2016.”

Antonio Galloni's Vinous, Dec/2015

2014 -

"Bright violet color. Explosively perfumed aromas of fresh boysenberry, floral oils and incense, with suave vanilla and woodsmoke nuances building in the glass. Sweet and plush on the palate, offering intense, smooth dark fruit liqueur and spicecake flavors. Really stains the palate, finishing with superb thrust and clarity; velvety tannins add gentle grip."

Wine Spectator, Jun/2017

2014 -

“This austere red is reserved but has concentration, with muscular tannins and balsamic acidity framing plum, licorice, loamy earth and tar flavors. Best from 2018 through 2028. 6,500 cases made.”

Wine Spectator, Mar/2016

2013 -

"Firm tannins corset a plush texture in this generous red. Black cherry, plum, cedar, spice and mineral flavors mingle, kept lively by fresh acidity. There's plenty of stuffing here, but this isn't aggressive."