Sisseck: Ribera 2014 is ‘beyond exciting’

Ribera’s 2014 vintage could be “something outstanding”, according to the producer of Ribera del Duero’s Pingus and owner of St. Emilion’s Château de Rocheyron, Peter Sisseck.

Peter Sisseck

“I’m enormously pleased with the quality of the 2014 we have in Spain. It is beyond exciting, but it is still very early days,” said Sisseck.

“The wines so far, are something I’ve never seen, and something of a surprise.”

On Bordeaux he said: “I think it’s the best harvest I’ve seen since 2010,” he said. “It seems very balanced and if you haven’t over-extracted the wines, I think they can be really nice.”

On the thorny issue of pricing come next spring Sisseck said: “I’ve got no idea what they’re going to do. I would like them to be sensible. I think it’s fair to say the attitude over the years in Bordeaux, where they haven’t listened to the market so well, has put the whole wine world, and not just Bordeaux under a bit of strain.

“I think there’s a feeling of being a bit fed up with the whole wine world … a feeling of “Mmm come on, it’s just wine. Let it be fun and taste good.”

Asked if Ribera had benefited from any fall-out in Bordeaux, Sisseck said: “For sure, but it’s unfair to say Bordeaux in general is over-priced because it certainly is not. You can easily find Châteaux that are perceived as over-priced, but you also find an enormous amount of fantastic good value wines that don’t sell because the image of Bordeaux is suffering right now.”