Pedro Ximénez
Liquid raisins
If you saw the white grapes, you would not suspect it, but white wines from Pedro Ximénez taste like liquid raisins. This variety is a genuine Andalusian. It has been known since the 17th century, and was probably named after a winery called Pedro Ximénez – the name is as common in southern Spain as Jones or Smith is to us. Its stronghold is in the Montilla-Moriles cultivation area. There, the sugar-rich grapes are traditionally dried on mats of esparto grass. Thus they lose their moisture, and the sugar concentration rises. Experts simply refer to the resulting sweet, nutty, coffee- and cocoa-spiced elixirs as PX. There is also a PX version of sherry. Nonetheless, most sherry houses do not grow the Pedro Ximénez themselves, but purchase them in Montilla-Moriles. One also seldom encounters the Pedro Ximénez as a dry white wine. Yet it does not present a great deal of profile.
