Dominio De Pingus Flor De Pingus 2016

Since 2011, Peter Sisseck has focused on creating wines with juiciness and finesse rather than power. This results in wines that open up earlier and retain their fresh fruit longer. In the 2016 vintage, he shows his talent. Of Flor de Pingus, he notes: "It has a little more alcohol and color than Pingus. 30% new barrels add a beautiful dimension and an almost seductive character. 100% Tempranillo."

Flor de Pingus contains more alcohol than Pingus and is used to soften the new barrels so that they do not interfere with Pingus expressing its terroir and minerality. The wine comes from partially leased vineyards close to the plots that supply grapes to Pingus. The vines are between 40 and 60 years old and contribute a distinctive minerality.

Peter Sisseck experiments with whole bunches of grapes among the lightly crushed grapes that ferment in 2,000 liter oak barrels. The wine matures for 14 months in a combination of new and used French barrels and is bottled without fining or filtering.

Flor de Pingus mirrors Pingus, and the differences in quality are less than the price difference suggests. In 2008, Robert Parker's representative in Spain, Jay Miller, noted that "For the price/quality ratio, this may be Spain's best wine."

The 2014 vintage was excellent, but was already surpassed in 2015. The warm 2016 vintage brings a remarkable freshness to the wine. Peter Sisseck continues his development away from the super concentrated expression and uses an increased harvest yield to achieve perfect balance.

Spain does not disappoint. The wine is aromatic with notes of fresh red cherries and blackberries that blend with sweet and smoky notes from the barrel. It is powerful and full-bodied, but has an underlying fresh, salty minerality that makes the tannins take a back seat.