The Year of No Pingus

... and perhaps another reason to try the 2002 Flor.

Thanks

Maybe there is some grey market for Pingus in Spain (specially when some wine aficionados discover they can bought it cheaper in Switzerland shops or elsewhere) but Vilaviniteca (Barcelona) is the official distributor in Spain and they got a significant amount of bottles each year (they offer to buy Pingus en primeur: http://www.vilaviniteca.es/vilaviniteca/novedades/av2004/showe.asp?area=pingus).

Walt, according to my knowledge the Pingus grapes are from different La Horra land plots than Flor de Pingus. Therefore, there is no relationship between the grapes going to the two different brands.

BTW, The decision for not making Pingus apparently was based on the frosts of early September. See this message (in Spanish) from Oct. 2002: https://www.verema.com/comunidad/foro/mensaje.asp?mensaje=13304

";Therefore, there is no relationship between the grapes going to the two different brands.";

... except, presumably, for the 2002 Flor.

Juan, what do you think the explanation is for prices in Spain being 2X the price in the US?

Clearly, in Spain Pingus has got cult status. Affluent people with average knowledge of wines want to buy and drink ";the most expensive Spanish wine";. I know some people in specialised shops and they told me they are amazed at how many bottles of Pingus can be sold.

I’ve bought E&E in Madrid for a fraction of its USA price, for example. Cult is not something universal. If you ask the average Spanish Joe (ie: Pepe) to pick between Prado Enea at 25€ or Colgin at 26€ the odds are he’ll shoot for the cheaper of the two or the one he is familiar with or the one that doesn’t look like a complete unknown-that-might-well-be-a-ripoff ...
I’ve seen Sine Qua Non in Lavinia but never in NY. I’ve seen a guy in a street in NY juggling with bottles of Flor de Pingus for a dime... (OK, almost...)

An example of this in a cheaper market sector is Marboré, which is selling cheaper in UK than in Spain (first tiem I’ve ever seen this!), presumably because here it’s unknown and in Spain it has already gained a bit of a reputation.