Pedro Ximénez

Pedro Ximénez is an ancient white grape variety from southern Spain, with a particularly strong historical and cultural connection to Córdoba and the D.O. Montilla-Moriles, where it remains the signature grape. The variety has been cultivated in Andalusia for centuries and is traditionally associated with the medieval period and the Christian Reconquest of Spain.

Today, Pedro Ximénez is grown and used in several traditional wine regions of southern Spain, including Montilla-Moriles, Jerez, and other nearby areas. It is an exceptionally versatile variety, capable of producing dry white wines, biologically aged Finos, oxidative wines, and intensely sweet wines.

In Montilla-Moriles, Fino made from Pedro Ximénez is not fortified. The grapes naturally reach high levels of ripeness and alcohol, allowing the wine to develop the strength needed for biological aging under flor without the addition of spirit. This is one of the great distinctions between the traditional Fino of Montilla-Moriles and the Fino of Jerez, which is typically made from Palomino and fortified.

Pedro Ximénez is also famously used to produce intensely sweet wines through asoleo, the traditional practice of drying harvested grapes in the sun. This concentrates the sugars, flavors, and acidity before pressing, creating a rich, intensely sweet must. These wines can then undergo long oxidative aging, developing extraordinary concentration and complexity.

The resulting sweet wines are typically dark, dense, and velvety, with aromas and flavors of raisins, figs, dates, dried and candied fruit, toffee, coffee, licorice, and dark chocolate.

Pedro Ximénez is remarkable for its versatility: one of southern Spain’s most historic white varieties can produce everything from fresh dry whites and unfortified Finos to deeply complex oxidative wines and some of the world’s most intense and long-lived sweet wines.