One of the first large purchases I made after starting work here in January 2019 was the 2016 Pingus PSI, a blend of Tempranillo and Garnacha from Ribera del Duero in Spain. It was an extraordinary wine and everyone who tasted it was blown away by how special it was.
While it was an amazing wine, the 2018 is even more amazing - but what really makes Pingus PSI special is the fact that Peter Sisseck is changing the lives of the farmers who grow the grapes that comprise this wine. He has told vignerons who used to be paid by the ton (a recipe for really bad wine) that, if they will farm according to his exacting standards, he will pay them top dollar for their grapes. The result is an enormous improvement in the quality of the fruit which they produce, which is matched by an equal improvement in their lives. The result in the bottle is wine that is estate grown in quality at a coop wine price, only $29.99!
Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate agrees with me, saying: "I had already tasted the unbottled 2018 PSI, which saw a jump in quality after they got a new winery where they had much better working conditions. This wine is produced with purchased grapes from 200 hectares in around 750 plots and 20 different villages throughout Ribera del Duero (they now rent and work 50 hectares of these vineyards themselves). In 2018, they were able to use some 12% Garnacha and 2% other grapes, including whites that are found intermixed with the Tinta del País/Tempranillo in the old vineyards. Garnacha adds freshness, and the wine shows it—the character of the grape comes through in the blend. It fermented with indigenous yeasts and matured mostly in 5,000-liter and 10,000-liter oak vats, but 20% of the volume aged in used French barriques for 18 months. 94 points."
Simply put, if you loved the 2016, you will be astonished by the 2018!
Grill a leg of lamb with rosemary and garlic for a match made in heaven!