'Pingus' Tinto Fino 2019

Pingus is based on two clos vineyards of great age and perfect natural balance, pretty much adjacent to one another affect an 'estate' of 4.5 hectares just south-west of La Horra on the way upto Roa. 'Barroso' is old gravel-sands over silt and calcareous bedrock near the Duero, and higher up 'San Cristobal' is a south-west facing clay slope. Peter actually treats them as five separate parcels made in 5 old wood Tinas (2000 litre foudre), then aged as per Flor. One of these, 'Amelia' is a small, ungrafted section of San Cristobal (otherwise on Riparia rootstocks) which yields a single barrel. Barroso yields deeper, lighter, long and finesseful fruit, compared to the fuller-blockier fruit from the gravel-slit slope of San Cristobal, planted around 1910 (the rest were planted in 1929).

Around 500 dozen are produced. Part of the fruit is de-stemmed by hand and goes through an individual berry selection; some of the fruit is selected for a version of whole-bunch fermentation, whereby exemplary parts of the bunch are selected and cut for fermentation with stems. The natural yeast fermentations are cultures selected from the two Pingus vineyards and then inoculated across all fermentations.

In 2015, Peter deliberately allowed a higher yield by 10-15% affecting a natural dilution in the field, so that the hot vintage did not produce an inherently over-concentrated wine. Scintillating gliding, round and really up and about - a wine of truly excellent movement; full soft and chocolately tannin with really nice acidity. Masculine and serious, tight and deep, with satsuma plum and black cherry jubey fruits. Inky and layered, meaty and tannic. Rich, tight, focused palate, restrained power and great balance, fine long expansive tannins glinting with deep-set minerality.