The Year of No Pingus
The Year of No Pingus
Ver mensaje de WaltZalenskiBecause of rain during the harvest, Peter Sisseck decided not to make Pingus in 2002. I am not sure that 2002 in Ribera del Duero was worse than 1997, for example, but it must have seemed particularly bad after three strong vintages in a row: 1999, 2000, and 2001.
The qestion is whether the declassification of Pingus makes the 2002 Flor de Pingus much better than average. Critic Stephen Tanzer suggested that it does because the Pingus ";juice forms the backbone of Flor de Pingus."; Has this wine yet been released in Spain? Has anyone tried it?
Re: The Year of No Pingus
Ver mensaje de WaltZalenskiI have only tested Flor de Pingus one time, and never Pingus. It was in San Diego, dining in a restaurant (perhaps Tope in the cove or anything similar?). First we drunk an excellent Mondavi´s cabernet, and after I suggested to drink Flor de Pingus. Unfortunately I don´t remember the year of this wine, but it was worse tHan Mondavi´s, not comparation was possible. So I have not temptations to buy a wine so expensive, with no security about its quality. I prefer sure values, any Rioja, Ribera and even Somontano, Toro, Priorato...
In Spain this wine, for the great majority of people, is nearly a legend. Few know it, less have saw a bottle and to taste it...It has the particular caractheristic, for me a very negative one, of to be ";el vino más caro de España"; (";the more expensive wine in Spain";). Is this wine better than any Vega Sicilia, Reserva 890, Torres Etiqueta Negra...? It´s ridiculous in my opinion.
Flor no es tan caro aquí
Ver mensaje de Nacho_G.F.Yes, I agree completely with what you say about Pingus. But the Flor de Pingus sells in the US for only about $45. Strangely, it often is much more expensive in Spain. (Lavinia in Madrid sells the 2001 for the equivalent of $85 and Emporda Seleccions in Girona sells it for $110!) At $45 several past vintages have been fairly priced, relatively speaking. If the 2002 is supposed to be the best Flor ever, it could be a bargain at this price.
Surprise
Ver mensaje de WaltZalenskiReally is surprising this fact. What is the cause? How is possible, taking the transport, the storage in US, the taxes?.
I don´t understand anything. But, I repeat again, here in Spain, Pingus is nearly a strange thing, a wine made for a sweden in Ribera...
Re: Surprise
Ver mensaje de Nacho_G.F.I do not know the reason, but I suspect Flor de Pingus is so much cheaper here precisley because we are not dealing with normal ";value"; in wine. Instead, we are dealing with repution. Spanish wine is not well known in the US. The mere fact that a bottle has the word ";Pingus"; on the label means nothing to 99.9% of US consumers. Perhaps stores in Spain know that the name ";Pingus,"; even if it is only part of the phrase ";Flor de Pingus,"; is enough to sell the wine at a high price.
Re: Surprise
Ver mensaje de WaltZalenskiCould it be the opposite?
Perhaps it is expensive in Spain, because they don’t want to sell it in Spain. That’s it.
And, frankly speaking, almost 100% of the people (not specially a wine aficionado) will know Vega Sicilia (and even Priorats) but a 0% of those people will know Pingus (and they will smile when you explain about a Danish winemaker ;-D).
Salut!
Joan
Grey Market Pingus
Ver mensaje de JoanFThere may be something to your point, Joan, that Sissick simply does not want to sell the Pingus wines in Spain. I don’t know if it is true, but I recently heard that most or all the Pingus available in Spain is sold through the grey market.
I am not sure if ";grey market"; is an expression used in Spain. It genererally means that the wine does not directly come from the bodega and that the wine was originally allocated and sent to another country. Grey market merchants, when they believe that the demand for the wine is strong in their home country, will buy the wine in the foreign country to which it was first shipped and then import it (or, in this case, re-import it) to their home country. This typically drives up the cost to the consumer.
Re: The Year of No Pingus
Ver mensaje de WaltZalenskiThe style of the Flor de Pingus is not only threaten by the fact that the Pingus 2002 was much weaker than 1999,2000 or 2001. The wordt part is that the vineyards that mister Sisseck rented were among the vineyards of Finca Villacreces. The company (Vina Izadi)
who bought Finca Villacreces has ended the contracts with mister
Sisseck. These plots of merlot are now going into the blend of Finca
Villacreces wines. Mister Sisseck has to look out for new plots to
make a Flor de Pingus. As the new people of Finca Villacreces are planting vines all the way to the river Duero and Vega Sicilia is planting corktrees on their left-parcels, mister Sisseck can’t buy grapes from the golden mile of Ribera any more. I’am keen to watch the style of the Flor de Pingus after 2002.