It’s basically a dessert all on it’s own. Dried and caramelised stone fruit, candied orange, honey, it’s all very rich and hedonistic. Pedro Ximénez is the variety, and having been left hanging late on the vine, it’s harvested and dried out on mats under the hot Spanish sun. This further concentrates the grape sugars, and evolves flavours. Aged in Tinajas (a kind of amphora) for 12 months before release. 

Bodegas Alvear is a really bloody old, family-owned sherry producer. They’re based in Montilla-Moriles in Andalusia, Spain’s most southern and traditional wine regions. This particular part of the region specialises in sherry and wine made from Pedro Ximénez. The continental climate creates an environment especially well suited to making rich and unctuous sweet and fortified styles.