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

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

95+ Points - Wine Advocate:
The 2023 Flor de Pingus spent eight months in oak barrels, and this year they introduced six 2,000-liter oak vats for the élevage of part of the wine, which represents around 15% of the volume. It matured in the oak vats for 12 months (the élevage was a little shorter in 2023 for all the wines). Peter considers this his most personal project because he had the chance to select the vineyards. In the Pingus wine, the place is very strong, so he doesn't have to do much. But Flor had an evolution: the massal selection is aromatic and pretty and chosen to make a more expressive wine, and adding Garnacha made it quite unique. For him, 2023 is a good interpretation of the year in La Horra, with purity, good definition and notes of cherries; it's elegant and not heavy. It has the texture of Tempranillo, keeping the elegance. It was a very dry year, and despite the extreme year, the way they work in the vineyard—organically and biodynamically—keeps the wine fresh; the tannins are not harsh, and it's juicy and has a clean, fresh and long finish. They avoided the risk of too much concentration in 2023. It's a wine of tension. (LG)

95 Points - Tim Atkin, MW:
Peter Sisseck admits that he was worried about the 2023 vintage in La Horra, but is very happy with the finished wine. Combining grapes from five parcels - Barroso, El Castillo, El Pino, Fuentenarro and Fuentes - totalling 49 hectares, Flor is what he calls "our village wine", showing impressive finesse in a hot growing season, succulent tannins, flavours of blackberry, red cherry and ginger spice and a violet top note.

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)