You might think that Peter Sisseck would now relax and take it easy. After the incredible success of Pingus and Flor de Pingus—two of the most coveted Spanish red wines of modern times—what more does he have to prove?

Indeed, a less driven winemaker would be content to rest on his laurels. But that’s not in Peter’s DNA. The greatness of his work over the past 20 years has been precisely because he’s never satisfied, relentlessly pursuing his idea of perfection.

And there is no better example of Peter’s quest for perfection than the 2014 Flor de Pingus -SO₂—which never sees a gram of sulfur throughout the winemaking process, and of which only two barrels were made.

We were honored by Peter to be one of only two of his customers worldwide to receive a precious allocation. And this is likely to be your only opportunity to acquire it.

Testing the Limits
Peter had only made an unsulfured Flor de Pingus twice before. But from the start of the 2014 harvest, he knew that this was a year to do it, given the vintage’s promise as one of the all-time greats.
 
In fact, Peter’s intuition about 2014 was later confirmed by Luis Gutierrez’s perfect 100-point Wine Advocate rating for Pingus. And Gutierrez’s added that the regular 2014 Flor de Pingus “could very well be the finest vintage of this cuvée ever.”

But why take the chance of making any red wine without sulfur? The reason is simple: to make a great wine even greater. Thierry Allemand has proven this with his magical Cornas Sans Soufre, and so has Marcel Lapierre with his unsulfured Morgon. The risks of the approach are high, but the payback, when done right, is potentially limitless.

And so Peter Sisseck has joined Allemand and Lapierre as a proven master of the no-sulfur approach. And the proof is in the 2014 edition, aged entirely in neutral barrel. While the regular 2014 Flor de Pingus is amazing—Peter compares it to a superb Pomerol—the unsulfured version is simply spectacular in its expression and its texture.
 
Back Story
Flor de Pingus was created in the mid-1990s in response to the demand for his iconic Pingus. Since Pingus’ production would be forever limited to the its original old-vine parcels, he searched around the Ribera del Duero village of La Horra, to find other very old Tempranillo vineyards from which he could make a second cuvée.

The result was Flor de Pingus, which, over time, has come nearer and nearer to Pingus in quality.

In the cellar, Peter treats Flor much as he does Pingus. Following the primary and malolactic fermentations, it is left alone in barrel to develop its brilliant expression of Tempranillo and terroir. And as each year passes, we see greater depth, finesse and classicism due to Peter’s subtle refinements.

With the escalating inaccessibility (and high cost) of Pingus itself, we’ve seen demand for Flor de Pingus soar. The reason is simple: despite its attractive price, it gets you awfully close to a true Pingus experience.

Luis Gutierrez calls the regular 2014 Flor “a mini-Pingus at a very different price.” In its incredible purity of expression, the 2014 Flor de Pingus -SO₂ brings you closer yet.

An Important Note on Shipping & Availability
A big reason for the high reputation of Thiérry Allemand’s and Marcel Lapierre’s unsulfured bottlings is that the two winemakers will only sell their tiny production to customers who ensure constant temperature control during shipping and storage.

Peter has followed their lead in choosing which of his customers would receive a Flor de Pingus -SO₂ allocation. And as one of only two merchants worldwide to receive that honor, we’re committed to protecting the 2014 Flor de Pingus -SO₂ by only shipping when we can count on cool weather throughout the time the wine is in transit, and we also ask you not to purchase a set unless you have the ability to store it in a very cool cellar.