Dominio de Pingus Amelia, Ribera del Duero, Spain

平古斯酒莊艾米莉亞紅葡萄酒

點(diǎn)擊次數(shù)：13254

I tasted an unbottled sample of the 2021 Amelia (taken from the single barrel), which is different from Pingus, Flor and PSI, as this fermented with 50% full clusters. I found a lot of finesse here. The oak is very integrated, and the wine has freshness; it's aromatic and expressive, spicy and perfumed, and the tannins are getting polished by the élevage. It should be bottled around June 2023, always under 300 bottles.

The 2020 Amelia felt a little oaky at first but became more integrated as the wine sat in the glass. This is always clearly different from Pingus, the texture of the tannins. There are 500 vines here (planted in 1895), and they used between 30% and 50% full clusters for the fermentation. The wine has retained very good freshness and shows granularity with more present tannins. Sisseck told me that this wine evolves nicely in bottle. 280 bottles were filled in July 2022.

There are only 246 bottles of the 2019 Amelia that are sold exclusively in the US, a special barrel for their US importer. This comes from a tiny plot of 500 to 600 vines by La Horra that were planted in 1895 with an old strain of Tempranillo with very small grapes; they have done a selection of plants here to replant in other vineyards, and according to Sisseck, it's the best strain of Tempranillo he has ever seen. The wine is different, very aromatic, and depending on the ripeness of the stems, they use a percentage of full clusters in the fermentation, which produces very aromatic wines. The palate is velvety and the tannins round, with a very fine granularity. It has to be one of the finest vintages of Amelia. It was bottled in July 2021.

The 2018 Amelia is only one barrel from a single vineyard that was planted in 1895, a very small plot that used to be blended into Flor de Pingus, but the American importer convinced Sisseck to bottle it separately and sell it to him. As it's only one barrel, it can be quite variable. This is produced in a small 500-liter stainless steel vat with layers of destemmed and full cluster grapes and is basically left on its own as they are really focused on producing Pingus. They aged it in a used barrel. This is more exotic and floral, with a little more ripeness and some tannins that need some time in bottle to get polished. It's very tasty and supple, with ripe flavors and some tannins again in the finish. Wait a bit.

There is an obscure wine produced by Peter Sisseck at Pingus, the 2014 Amelia, from a single vineyard with very old plants from 1895; its age is know with precision because it was planted to celebrate someone's birth. It only has 500 plants, but Peter Sisseck considers that it's the perfect expression of the old Tinta del País clone of Tempranillo. From those 500 plants, they have selected some 300 of them that they use for planting all of their new vineyards, as they have very small bunches that Sisseck compares with what you get with Pinot Noir. This wine used to go into Flor de Pingus, but his American imported convinced him to make a separate cuvée, which fermented in a 500-liter stainless steel vat with 50% whole clusters, and as the volume is very small, the temperature of fermentation stays quite low at some 19 degrees Celsius. They aged it in a T5 Taransaud barrel, a well-seasoned one (they have two that they rotate through consecutive vintages), avoiding the oak aroma in the wine. This is a very elegant and harmonious, nuanced and insinuating Ribera del Duero within the powerful style of the zone and the vintage. It's quite ripe, but does not have very high alcohol (14.5%). However, the difference here is the quality of the tannins; they are as a soft, round and lush as they get. This is sold exclusively in the US. Unfortunately, only some 280 bottles are produced. This was first bottled separately in 2003, but you don't come across it that often, as production figures are tiny.