PSI 2020

Crítica

2020 > 93 puntos
In 2020, he reached the target he set for himself when PSI first started, to produce around 300,000 bottles (it's actually 350,000 bottles). The volume of the 2020 PSI is something that's important, as it has availability and affordability, which is necessary when based on quality, purchasing only grapes from old vines (they use 7,000 plots for this volume!). So, they also started purchasing some of those vineyards in 2022 (they think they need 200 hectares to keep the volume, so the aim is to own maybe half of it). Peter Sisseck remarked that we have to remember 2020 was a warm year, but with the high content of limestone in the soils, the wine has kept very good freshness. They harvested early, before the rain, and they also used some 5% to 10% Garnacha (they could use up to 25%, according to regulations) in the blend to lower the pH of the wine. Below 3.8, he thinks, the wines from the zone are very angular and hard if it's only Tempranillo, so Garnacha (which doesn't have as much tannins as Tempranillo) can help with that; but the difficulty is finding Garnacha grapes, so they are considering planting some Garnacha for the future. The bottled wine has all that the sample promised—clean and healthy aromas, floral and elegant, aromatic and with good freshness. The palate is medium-bodied, with elegant tannins, pleasant and easy to drink. 350,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in July 2022. End of January 2023, The Wine Advocate
2020 > 92-94 puntos
The unbottled sample of the 2020 PSI feels young, juicy, very fruit-driven and clean. 2020 was an unusual vintage, first of all because of COVID-19, but it was a year with lots of light, plenty of flowers and a beautiful spring. They were able to harvest quite early and finished two days before the abundant rains (except in Soria, which is a different story) that started on the 20th of September. In Ribera, there will be two different harvests: the wines before the rain and those from after. So, this is very healthy, aromatic and floral, with a spark of freshness but also ripe and round. It's going to be a crowd-pleaser. It has a bright ruby color, with some 10% Garnacha. It somehow has less Tempranillo character. Volumes are similar to 2019, with around 350,000 bottles that they expect to bottle around June 2022. Issue 257 End of October 2021, The Wine Advocate
2019 > 93+ puntos
The 2019 PSI combines their knowledge of the vineyards and their new winery. They learned a lot in 2018, a more heterogeneous vintage, and their sorting machine for grapes had to work a lot. 2019 was more homogeneous, an easier harvest when most people made better wine. In the winery, they invested in a simple building but top technology. They used some 10% Garnacha in the blend, which was done one year after aging the lots separately. It really reminds me of the young wines from Ribera del Duero from the early 1990s, with some aromas of orange peel, earthy and smoky (very mild) and with fine-grained tannins. It has good ripeness at 14% alcohol and integrated acidity but great balance. It showcases the style of the 2019s here, fresher than expected and still a sunny vintage, when 2018 was more crystalline. A triumph over the natural conditions of the year. They finally bottled the expected 345,000 bottles. It was bottled in July 2021.
The unbottled sample of the 2019 PSI—which should be bottled around June 2021 if all goes well—is slightly riper than the 2018 I tasted next to it, reflecting the warmer condition of the year. Starting in 2019, they have been working 50 hectares of the vineyards themselves, as they have rented them, with the idea to reach perhaps 100 hectares, half of those used, worked by themselves. This is marginally riper than the 2018, with a darker color, a little more ripeness and tannins with very tasty flavors, more immediate. It still has some months to go to polish the edges, but this is juicier and a little rounder. Yields were a little lower (hence more concentrated), so they expect to produce around 345,000 bottles.

2018 > 94 puntos
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. The color is quite light (relatively speaking), bright and lively, the nose perfumed, floral and elegant, like no PSI before. The palate is medium-bodied, with fine tannins, and it feels terribly balanced and beautifully textured. It's elegant more than powerful but full of energy. This is without a doubt the finest PSI to date. Viva Garnacha! 360,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in June 2020.