Pingus, produced by Peter Sisseck from fewer than five hectares of pre-phylloxera old-vine Tempranillo in the Ribera del Duero, is unambiguously Spain’s most celebrated and commercially significant cult wine, establishing its reputation with a series of extraordinary Parker 100-point scores in the late 1990s and maintaining its position at the pinnacle of Spanish red wine quality across three decades of production through a consistent commitment to the lowest possible yields, native yeast fermentation and an ageing programme that has evolved from full new oak towards predominantly used barrels as Sisseck has refined his approach. The wine-searcher aggregate of 97/100 across all approved publications for the 2018 vintage confirms Pingus’s consistent critical recognition, with James Suckling, Wine Advocate, Vinous and Decanter all providing scores in the 95-98 range for a vintage that has been well received across Ribera del Duero but is positioned below the legendary 2016 (Suckling 100) and the exceptional 2019 (98/100 aggregate) in the estate’s recent quality hierarchy.

The 2018 Ribera del Duero growing season was warm with good rainfall distribution, producing wines of excellent natural concentration and aromatic character from the zone’s finest old-vine Tempranillo sites. For Sisseck’s Pingus, whose old bush vines on the estate’s specific combination of calcareous clay and sandy soils in the La Horra area of the Ribera provide natural drought resistance and deep root penetration, the 2018’s climatic conditions should have produced material of impressive depth and mineral character. Sisseck’s increasingly less interventionist approach in the cellar, moving towards used and older barrels and extended natural ageing, means that the 2018 expresses the vineyard’s character with greater transparency than the new-oak-influenced expressions of earlier Pingus vintages.

A 2018 Pingus, with its confirmed 97/100 wine-searcher aggregate from an estate of this prestige and historical significance, represents one of Spain’s most consistently compelling fine wine acquisitions at any price. For collectors who follow the Pingus programme and who seek access to a genuinely collectible vintage from this estate at a stage where the wine is beginning to reveal its developing secondary character, the 2018 is an excellent and timely acquisition.

Deep ruby-garnet with a complex and evolving nose of ripe dark cherry, blackberry, dried violet, iron mineral, cedar, tobacco and the distinctive calcareous clay mineral character of the Ribera del Duero high plateau. Full-bodied with polished, well-structured tannins, excellent natural acidity and a very long, mineral, savoury finish of great depth. Best from 2025 through 2045.