I have tasted the 2010 Pingus a number of times since I published a note on it in issue 207 in June 2013, my first and probably the shortest article ever published at The Wine Advocate. I have consistently found it significantly better than when I first tasted it, so I decided to put it together with the latest releases, 2011 and 2012, to compare. The Pingus vineyards had been converted to biodynamic in the year 2000 and after the warm and dry 2009, 2010 was almost perfect. The vineyards yielded a disastrous 11 hectoliters per hectare, and the grape selection provided enough grapes for 6,000 bottles that were obtained fermenting in 2,000-liter oak vats and aging the wine for 22 months in second-fill French oak barrels. The 2010 is extremely aromatic, open and hedonistic and one extra year in bottle has only done the wine good, the oak feels much more integrated and the toasty aromas have all but disappeared. The palate is medium-bodied, with very fine tannins good acidity and freshness. This is really superb, with astonishing balance and power. With time in the glass it develops more complex aromas, with things like orange peel that really reminded me of the Riberas of yesteryear. I think I was mistaken last year, and the 2010 will ultimately surpass the 2009. A Pingus of finesse. Drink now-2025.
I had a relaxed and superb tasting with Peter Sisseck, where we had time to discuss the wines and Ribera del Duero in general as Sisseck is now part of the Consejo Regulador. It was also a great learning experience as he showed me some experimental wines that resulted in adjustments from the 2012 vintage onward, and a big jump in precision for the wines, with the yet unbottled 2012 Pingus verging on perfection. He explained the range of wines he produces as it follows: PSI is the regional wine, Flor de Pingus is the village, and Pingus is the Cru. PSI is the newer wine in the lineup and the one that might require more explanation. In 2007, a difficult vintage in Ribera del Duero, he lost quite a lot of grapes for Flor de Pingus because of a big hailstorm, so he had to look for grapes he could purchase. He then realized how much Ribera had grown: from 6,000 hectares in 1985 to 9,000 hectares in 1990 and more than 22,000 hectares today! There is a big surplus of grapes, so the grapes from old vineyards are not valued. He decided that he wanted to support the people who were keeping their old vineyards and not ripping them up, or going to younger vines and high yields. He purchased their grapes, paid a fair price and produced PSI with them. Besides tasting extensively and slowly, I retasted 2010 Pingus and I also had the chance to preview the 2013 Pingus (clean, pure, with great acidity, but still too young) plus some experimental cuvees, some of which might see the light in the future. They have never produced better wines at Pingus. Bravo!
Importer: The Rare Wine Company, Sonoma, CA; www.rarewineco.com
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