PSI

The bottled 2022 PSI follows the character of the sample I tasted last year: it's clean, expressive and open. It's perfumed, elegant, floral and quite attractive and does not transmit any heat. In fact, it has contained ripeness and around 13.8% alcohol. They have improved the selection tremendously, and the wine has gained in precision; it's better each year. There is something that reminds me of the old vintages of Pesquera (1994 and before), with notes of orange peel and aromatic herbs. It's medium-bodied, has fine tannins and very good freshness. Only 20% of the volume matured in barrel and the rest in large oak vats (2,000-, 5,000- and 10,000-liter ones), and the élevage is quite respectful of the wine. This should be readily available, as they produced 360,000 bottles in 2022. It's detailed and hand-crafted, real wine in good volume, coming from 700 plots of old vines, all in all around 8% Garnacha. Despite the conditions of the year, this has to be one of the finest vintages of PSI.

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.

Deep crimson. Sweet fruit that does slightly recall the C&B Côtes-du-Rhône(!) but with more undertow. There's the spice of high-elevation Ribera and an impressively persistent, vibrant, dry finish. Pretty persistent. Pretty grainy. Fun – especially if viewed as a lively alternative to the much, much more expensive other wines from Sisseck.