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98 RP. "The 1995 Pingus exhibits an opaque purple color, an extraordinary sweet nose of black fruits, truffles, and nicely-integrated, subtle pain grillé. The wine is massive, huge, and full-bodied, with layers of concentrated, pure fruit, loads of glycerin, and beautifully sweet tannin. Although one would think it would taste Bordeaux-like, it has its own individual style that falls somewhere between Saint-Émilion's Valandraud, Pesquera's Janus, and Vega-Sicilia's Unico. The 1995 will age effortlessly for 25-30+ years. The lucky few who are able to latch onto a bottle or two should be prepared to cellar it . . . . This is a brilliant winemaking effort . . . . Bravo to proprietor Peter Sisseck for these extraordinary Spanish wines! In issue #106 (8-31-96) I broke the story about the extraordinary Dominico de Pingus produced by the young Danish winemaker, Peter Sisseck (Pingus is Danish slang for Peter, as well as the name of a well-known European cartoon). I tasted the 1995 Dominico de Pingus immediately before bottling (it will not be filtered), and it is an extraordinary wine. Sadly, only 325 cases were produced, and only 350 cases in 1996. Made from 60+ year old Tempranillo vines planted in the heart of Ribera del Duero, these wines are produced from yields of under 1/2 ton of fruit per acre, or about 1.1 pounds of fruit per vine. Malolactic fermentation is done in new oak, and the wine is then aged in 100% new oak casks, with the white wine technique of bâtonnage (lees stirring) utilized. Bâtonnage is rarely used for red wine. The wines reviewed in this segment, tasted in September, 1997, are spectacular." Wine Advocate #113, Oct 1997 |