Pingus 2018 75cl

I was really looking forward to the bottled version of the 2018 Pingus after a great showing of the cask sample last year. Part of the wine matured in 20,000-liter oak casks, so it's not all barrique. This is the first time they used the vats, and based on the results, Sisseck thinks in the future Pingus will be around 50% in oak vats. The Pingus vines were planted in 1929 in two different sectors of the village of La Horra, Barroso and San Cristobal and contain some 2% other varieties. The vineyards are certified organic and biodynamic and are manicured like few vineyards in Spain. The wine is subtle and harmonious, elegant and insinuating, with all the components in very good balance. This is precise and pure; Sisseck is thorough and meticulous, and the wine shows that precision. This follows the line of the 2016, showing very well even if it was bottled only one month before I tasted it. 9,300 bottles were filled in August 2020.<br/>I tasted the bottled 2018s from Dominio de Pingus and also the unbottled 2019s, as the wines are sold as "futures," or "en primeur," through their importers and then, in most cases, offered by the importers to their final customers. 2018 is a stellar vintage with an amazing Pingus and the best PSI to date. 2019 was warmer, but the wines have an unusual combination of ripeness and elegance that Sisseck told me he's never seen before. Some of the 2019s might end up being better than the 2018 counterparts. Today, the 2019 Flor de Pingus is showing exceptionally well.<br/><br/>