If your budget does not include Ferraris, a slopeside home in Aspen, and diamond encrusted toilet seats, you probably will never have the opportunity to sample Pingus, one of the world's rarest and most sought after wines.  Sadly, I too will probably never sample this wine.  Nor will I ever have a Ferrari, a home in Aspen, or diamonds on my toilet seat.  To be honest with you, I wouldn't want diamonds on my toilet seat even if I could afford them.  I think it would hurt.  Pingus usually sells for over $300.00 per bottle upon release, and can, of course, be much more expensive if buying an older vintage.

Fortunately for the rest of us, Pingus makes a second wine called "Flor de Pingus".  It usually sells for somewhere between 40 and 50 bucks.  I bought my bottle at an auction for $35.00.   A lot of money to be sure, but a bargain compared to the "Big Pingus".  The 2001 vintage is supposed to be one of the best for this region in a long time.  The wine is from the Ribera del Duero region of Spain.  It is made from 100% tempranillo grapes.  Although this is the same grape used for Rioja wines, the grape takes a much different form in Ribera than it does in Rioja.  Under the supervision of winemaker Peter Sisseck, this grape produces huge red wines.  The vines are all 60 to 80 years old.  The wine has a good nose; tar, pipe smoke and crushed black fruits.  There is a lot of tannin in this wine.  If you like velvet smooth wines, let this baby sit for another year before drinking it.  If you like youthful reds, with a hearty mothfeel, it can certainly be consumed now.  Pair it with hearty stew, soemthing gamy, or any red meat.  The wine tastes quite extracted, and there is a lot of fruit here, which will become more prevalent as the tannins soften.

I liked the wine, but I can't say it was the greatest wine experience of my life.  Perhaps the real Pingus would be, if ever I was so lucky to try it.  For immediate drinking, I give the Flor de Piongus 3.5 stars.  I will try it again in a year or so.  My guess is that the score will go up.

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