Dominio de Pingus wines

Established in 1995, Dominio de Pingus is located in the Burgos province, 30 kilometres from Roa. Set up by Peter Sisseck, a very experienced and well travelled oenologist engineer, the overriding aim was to make produce "an unmistakably Spanish, terroir-driven wine... a garage wine." He has managed to do that with aplomb!

Everything about Dominio de Pingus shouts traditional. However, the winemaking philosophy is all about quality and not quantity. It is a very small vineyard (5ha) with very low yields of Tempranillo (aka Tinto Fino) and the whole winemaking process is done manually which enables only the ripest grapes to be hand selected from vines that were hand pruned to ensure that the low yield was maximised with the highest quality fruit. The vines have never been treated with pesticides, nor have they been fertilised - the perfect fruit is a direct result of the care and respect shown by the growers for their vines and their attention to detail.

Natural maceration and fermentation over 20 days takes place in steel vats followed by malolactic fermentation in 100% new French oak. The wine is aged for between 20 and 23 months prior to bottling.

Established in 2007, Pingus-Bodegas y Vinedos Alnardo is the brainchild of Peter Sisseck where he works with local growers to produce a fantastic quality wine but with fruit from a number of different growers and vineyards. The resulting wine has been named PSI.

An example of how this works is demonstrated by looking at PSI 2014. Fruit was obtained from 5 different villages, 126 different growers, and from 294 plots. The fruit used was Garnacha and Tinta del Pais. Although the size of each parcel is modest (around 2000kg), each one is very carefully quality controlled to ensure only the best fruit is used. There is also a great deal of quality control done with all of the different growers to ensure that they adhere to careful vineyard practices. The idea is to establish where some of the area's real assets are both in terms of the quality of the fruit and terroir, and the local knowledge that, in some cases has been passed down from generation to generation. To then utilise both has enabled the production of a much higher quality wine then had been previously thought possible. In turn, this has also improved the financial situations for many of the local growers. The fact that PSI is also biodynamic adds value and quality to the wine.

Once the fruit has been collected, it is fermented in concrete and aged for 17 months in concrete, large oak vats and some smaller, newer oak barriques.

Hospital, s / n. 47350 Quintanilla de Onésimo (Valladolid)

Ribera del Duero

Peter Sisseck

The very small production levels makes Pingus wines some of the most exclusive and sought after wines in Spain.

The name Pingus comes from a nickname that Peter Sisseck's aunt gave him as a child.

PSI is the 23rdletter of the Greek alphabet and is also the initials of Peter Sisseck, the founder.