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Montilla-Moriles is no ordinary wine region. Though
it has lost over 80% of its vineyard area in the last
50 years, its legacy has left an indelible mark on the
world of wine. Its climate has shaped the destiny of an
iconic grape, and the unique style of its wines has gi-
ven rise to some of the finest expressions ever made:
the amontillados. While the term has since spread to
other renowned wine regions, it originally referred to a
wine that began its ageing under a layer of flor yeast
like a fino, but eventually lost this cover and continued
to develop through oxidative ageing, acquiring more
complex aromas of nuts, spices and wood. These
wines, with a character halfway between finos and
olorosos, resembled those made in Montilla, which
is why their neighbours in Jerez started calling them
“amontillados” — wines made “in the Montilla style”.
Today, Montilla-Moriles offers the world timeless
amontillados of remarkable finesse and intensity. If
you're lucky enough to wander into a Montilla ageing
cellar, you run the delightful risk — like Ulysses before
the sirens — of being seduced by these old amontilla-
dos, never to return. Once you enter their Olympus,
it’s hard to go back to the earthly realm.
But this singular region in Córdoba is not only the bir-
thplace of such a distinctive wine; its most emblema-
tic grape and its sweetest version have also been the
stars of some of the most legendary and concentrated
wines in history. Few grape varieties in the world have
the honour of being both a fruit and a wine in their
own right.
Oloroso wine soleras
WINE TOURISM
A single name defines an entire identity: Pedro Xi-
ménez is both the grape and the legendary wine —
the white variety that carries centuries of history, that
“toasts” under the sun (giving the berries their typical
bronzed hue as their sugars caramelise), and that be-
comes the sweet wine which has brought Montilla-Mo-
riles international acclaim.
This sweet wine, named after the variety from which
it’s made, follows an ancient process. Pedro Ximénez
grapes are harvested at optimal ripeness and then laid
out in the sun for several days on straw mats (paseras)
for natural dehydration. The dense nectar obtained is
gently pressed and partially fermented before under-
going long oxidative ageing in oak casks, developing
intense aromas of raisins, figs, dates and coffee. The
result is a mahogany-coloured ambrosia with a lus-
cious, unctuous texture — truly one of the richest wi-
nes in existence.
Such is the versatility of the Pedro Ximénez grape that
it can yield both the driest wines in the world (finos)
and the sweetest (PX) without losing any of its charac-
ter. And if it can show this kind of potential in the cellar,
imagine what it can do in the vineyard.
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