Dominio de Pingus Flor de Pingus 2023
(Ribera del Duero, Spain) - [VM 94-95] [WA 93-94]

About the Wine:
Pingus is produced by the visionary Danish winemaker Peter Sisseck. Peter arrived in Spain in 1993 to manage a new project, Hacienda Monasterio. While planting and developing Monasterio, he began to dream about the old vines he saw dotted around the Ribera del Duero landscape. By the 1995 vintage, Peter had found a group of old vines that spurred him to embark on his own project. He called it “Pingus,” after his childhood nickname.

From the beginning, Peter intended to express his vision through two wines, Pingus and Flor de Pingus, though Flor took more time to fulfil its destiny. The first vintage, 1995, was almost entirely lost when a container ship carrying it sank in the North Atlantic in 1998. The second vintage, 1996, did survive, becoming something of a legend, but no Flor was produced in 1997 or 1998. And for 1999 Flor, Peter had to rely on a mixture of both young and old vines.

But Peter wanted Flor to feature more old-vine fruit from great terroirs. Assembling those vineyards would take time and money. And it would take even more time to convert the vineyards to the same biodynamic agriculture that has made such a difference for Pingus.

Today, we are witness to a coming of age for this increasingly important wine. Peter has refined the selection of vineyards used for Flor. He has even replanted some key parcels with a massale selection from his best, old-clone parcels. In the cellar, he ferments and macerates the largely old-vine fruit with native yeasts and up to 40% whole clusters for two to three weeks. After malolactic fermentation is complete, the wine is racked into mostly used barrels where it is left alone to develop its evocative expression to Tempranillo and terroir.

Ratings & Reviews

94-95 Points - Vinous Media:
"The 2023 Flor de Pingus is made from over 20 hectares of old Tinta del País vines and 15 hectares of Garnacha in Ribera del Duero. It was aged in 10–15% new oak. Violets, fresh plum and a delicate touch of oak open on the nose. Fine-grained reactive tannins define the texture. A red with charming nuances and evolving character. (Drink between 2025-2040)" - Joaquin Hidalgo (Jun 2025)

95 Points - Wine Advocate:
"The 2023 Flor de Pingus is pretty, juicy, ripe and approachable, less serious than the 2022. It's all really balanced and integrated and has good purity. The wine spent eight months in oak barrels, and in 2023, they introduced six 2,000-liter oak vats for the élevage of part of the wine, which represents around 15% of the volume, where it matured for 12 months. It's an approachable vintage of Flor. All in all, the élevage was a little shorter this year. This should be bottled starting in early May 2025. The expected volume is around 92,000 bottles." - Luis Gutierrez (Jun 2025)