A famed Spanish winery with a great story, Dominio de Pingus is a relatively new winery by Ribera standards, established in 1995 by Danish enologist Peter Sisseck. Peter learned about wine in Bordeaux prior to coming to Ribera and is in charge of the winemaking at Pingus. His wines were initially met with huge acclaim by Robert Parker in particular, who in high praise stated that the Pingus was “one of the greats and most exciting wines I have ever tasted.” The first vintage 1995 was a very limited production year, as only 325 cases were made with prices sky high for the region at a whopping $200 per bottle. Remarkably Pingus became considerably more rare when in November 1997 the ship transporting a U.S. bound shipment of 75 cases disappeared somewhere wrecked in the North Atlantic Ocean. The shipwreck caused wine prices to more than double up to $500 or more a bottle!
While I was in Spain I wanted to try the new Pingus release. Since the new release Pingus price was set at around $1000.00 a bottle, this was not a reasonable option for me. Instead, I purchased a bottle of the 2015 Dominio De Pingus ‘Flor de Pingus’ Ribera Del Duero (WWB, 94). The ‘Flor de Pingus’ like its older brother is comprised of 100% Tempranillo. The ‘Flor’ is sourced from younger vineyards in the La Horra zone, with most vines over 35 years of age. Typically 4,000 cases of ‘Flor’ is made with each vintage.The wine was truly gorgeous, deep and mineral driven. I loved the terroir of this second wine that truly captivated the senses but also was not nearly ready to drink.
2015 Dominio De Pingus ‘Flor de Pingus’ Ribera Del Duero- Brimming with intensity, the 2015 'La Flor De Pingus' is a powerful Ribera which needs more than one hour of air contact before it begins to show its best stuff. It begins with wonderful aromatics of dark kirsch, toasty oak, chocolate and coffee grounds with earthy undertones. The mouthfeel and sumptuous texture is stunning and entices just as much as the earthy terroir driven character. Showing rich viscosity, this drifts into copious dark fruits and chocolate with fig compote and wild mushroom flavors that all mingle nicely. This is downright stunning, however readers should plan on cellaring this as it will continue to drink beautifully as it evolves over the course of the next fifteen plus years. Drink 2020-2035- 94