Bodegas San Francisco Javier

VISIT IMPORTER'S WEBSITE
Country of Origin: Spain
Location: Jerez de la Frontera
People: Peter Sisseck & Carlos del Río, Owners
Viticulture: Practicing Biodynamic

Items

Bodegas San Francisco Javier (2025) Fino, Vina Corrales Pago Balbaina, Jerez-Xeres-Sherry DO Login WA 97 In Stock

There are very few Spanish wines that can be mentioned in the same breath with Coche-Dury’s Corton-Charlemagne, Chave’s Cuvée Cathelin, or Giacomo Conterno’s Barolo Monfortino. Peter Sisseck’s Pingus heads the list of those that can. In fact, Pingus is so profound that many of Peter’s followers have asked him over the years to make a white counterpart. In 2017, he decided to do just that. But instead of getting his inspiration from France, he stayed within Spain, choosing to focus on the white wine region he considers the country’s greatest and most unique: Jerez.

His aim was to bring a focus on place and viticulture to a region dominated by brands.

When Peter first visited Jerez in 1993, he was impressed less by the ancient palo cortados and olorosos, than by the complexity and elegance of the great finos. He saw that fino could be far more than the light, young wines made to meet the demands of Spain’s tapas bars. In fact, he came to believe that fino had the potential to stand with the world’s great white wines.

Working with Jerez’s Del Rio family, Peter was able to purchase 10 hectares of prime vineyards of Palomino within two of Sherry’s most esteemed pagos. The first vineyard purchase was 8 hectares in Viña Corrales, part of the famed Balbaína Pago in El Puerto de Santa Maria. With its proximity to the sea, and relatively high 90m elevation, Balbaína was perfect for the archetypal fino that Peter was seeking.

The other purchase was 2 hectares in Jerez’s renowned Macharnudo Pago, long made famous by Domecq and Valdespino. Macharnudo is located further inland than Balbaína and the parcel, Viña La Cruz, yielded Palomino grapes with higher ripeness and body, perfect for a richer, old-school fino amontillado style. As at Pingus, Peter immediately adopted organic farming, and started the long process of biodynamic conversion.

Media Links
Wineanorak: Sisseck’s Sherry: the Pingus winemaker invests in Jerez

Reviews

  • San Francisco Javier (2025) Fino, Vina Corrales Pago Balbaina, Jerez-Xeres-Sherry DO
    The Wine Advocate
    Rating: 97 (10/23/2025)
    I previewed a preliminary blend for the 2025 bottling of the NV Fino Viña Corrales Pago Balbaína while I tasted the current vintages of Pingus in Ribera del Duero, and the wine blew me away. It has a deep golden color and a complex and nuanced nose, creamy ("mantecoso"), complex and nutty, with tons of esparto grass notes, showing old average age. It's definitely an aged and nuanced old Fino. There's no room here for lightness; it's complex and big, powerful and intense, pungent, long and persistent but in balance and with elegance and good freshness. This is nine or 10 years of average age.

    I later tasted the bottled wine in September 2025 and had the chance to compare it with the bottlings from 2020 and 2022. The creaminess from this bottling is amazing. Intense and with a bitter twist in the finish. This has some baby fat compared with the bottlings from 2022 and 2020. It's more pungent, and the colors are bright, which reference a vibrant wine that has barely changed with years in bottle. The wine from 2025 has a lot more influence from their own vineyard, which is certified organic and is the only one feeding the criaderas since they started. So, the wine is increasingly better each year. The climate of the year when the wine is taken out is also reflected in the wine, and 2025 was a rainier year with milder temperatures during the season; the summer was another story... The wines in bottle are evolving at a very slow pace.