1995 Dominio de Pingus, Ribera del Duero, Pingus

RP98 "The 1995 Dominico de Pingus exhibits an opaque purple color, an extraordinary sweet nose of black fruits, truffles, and nicely-integrated, subtle pain grille. 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 St.-Emilion'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 for 4-6 years. This is a brilliant winemaking effort! Bravo to proprietor Peter Sisseck for these extraordinary Spanish wines!" RP Oct 1997
"I tasted this wine three times prior to bottling (hence the range of scores), and it is one of the greatest and most exciting young red wines I have ever tasted. This project is the creation of a young Danish winemaker, Peter Sisseck (Pingus being Danish slang for Peter). Sisseck brought in the well-known Bordeaux winemaker, Peter Vinding-Diers, and rented ten acres of 60+-year old Tempranillo vines (also called Tinto del Pais by the locals) in the heart of Ribero del Duero, not far from Vega Sicilia. The 1995 was produced from microscopic yields of one-half ton per acre (about 1.1 pounds of fruit per vine according to Sisseck. This wine has been made in the same manner as the famous Bordeaux trio of L'Angelus, Le Pin, and Valandraud. Extremely rich and full-bodied, with exceptionally well-integrated acidity and tannin, this is a massively-concentrated yet impeccably-balanced wine that has a level of concentration that must be tasted to be believed. In spite of its other-worldly intensity, this is a sumptuous, surprisingly approachable wine that should age effortlessly for 15-20 years. Now for the bad news .... the price may appear shockingly high, but for this level of quality, it is not a bad deal, particularly when contrasted with the prices fetched by Le Pin, Valandraud, L'Angelus, and other limited production Pomerol/St.-Emilions. Only 325 cases were produced in 1995, of which one-third is being exported to the United States. This will be a legendary effort." Robert ParkerPublished: Aug 30, 1996