XIMÉNEZ-SPÍNOLA

A solera is a traditional ageing system where wine is matured in a series of stacked barrels, with the oldest wine at the bottom and newer wines progressively added on top. When a portion is bottled, it’s replaced with younger wine, meaning every bottle contains a fraction of wine from the original year the solera started (e.g., 1964 or 1918). This process builds extraordinary depth and complexity.

While they’re made in Jerez — Spain’s sherry region — Ximénez-Spínola wines are not fortified like typical sherries (such as Fino or Oloroso). Instead, they highlight the Pedro Ximénez grape in its purest form, whether as a naturally sweet wine or, in the case of Fermentación Lenta, a rare dry PX.

Pedro Ximénez (PX) grapes are sun-dried on straw mats after harvest — a process called asoleo. This concentrates the sugars in the grapes, resulting in intensely sweet, syrupy wines with rich flavours of raisins, figs, dates, and caramel.

A fortified wine is one where a distilled spirit (usually grape brandy) is added during or after fermentation. This increases the alcohol content (typically to 15–22%) and can affect sweetness — for example, adding spirit before fermentation is complete leaves natural sugars in the wine, making it sweet.

Unlike traditional sherries, Ximénez-Spínola wines are unfortified. Their natural sweetness comes from sun-drying the grapes (asoleo) to concentrate sugars, rather than adding alcohol to stop fermentation.

PX wines are best served slightly chilled (10–12°C) for sweet styles and a little cooler (8–10°C) for dry expressions like Fermentación Lenta. They’re perfect on their own, with desserts like dark chocolate or Christmas pudding, or paired with blue cheeses.

• Sweet PX (e.g. Vintage, PX Muy Viejo): Blue cheese, foie gras, dark chocolate, or nut-based desserts.

• Semi-sweet PX (e.g. Exceptional Harvest): Fruit tarts, almond cake, or creamy cheeses.

• Dry PX (e.g. Fermentación Lenta): Tapas, grilled fish, smoked salmon, or roasted nuts.

Yes! Sweet PX wines like Vintage or PX Muy Viejo can age for decades, gaining richer notes of coffee, cocoa, and toffee. Dry styles such as Fermentación Lenta also age gracefully, developing honeyed, nutty complexity over 15+ years.

Ximénez-Spínola produces tiny quantities each year because they work exclusively with PX grapes, hand-harvested and processed in small batches. Many wines come from soleras started decades ago, meaning production is naturally limited.

Brandy is a spirit distilled from wine or fermented fruit juice. The distillation process concentrates the wine’s flavours and alcohol, and the spirit is then aged in wooden barrels — typically oak — to develop smoothness, complexity, and aromatic depth.

Ximénez-Spínola brandies are distilled exclusively from Pedro Ximénez wines, unlike most brandies that use neutral grape wines. They’re then aged in PX-seasoned chestnut and American oak barrels, which give them a naturally rich, raisin-like sweetness and layers of dried fruit and spice.

Yes and no. While brandies do not mature further like wine, they remain stable and can last decades in the bottle if stored properly. Older PX brandies, especially Tres Mil Botellas or Cigars Club Nº3, are collectible and can be enjoyed many years after purchase.

Brandy is best enjoyed neat at room temperature, often in a tulip-shaped glass that concentrates its aromas. For a softer expression, it can be gently warmed in the hand, or paired with desserts, coffee, or a fine cigar.

Pedro Ximénez brandies tend to have rich notes of raisins, figs, dried plums, vanilla, caramel, and warm spices, thanks to their PX wine origins and ageing in PX-seasoned barrels.