Ximénez Spínola Jerez Seco Serie 1 – Fino

Yesterday the bodega Ximénez-Spínola presented a new Fino sherry named Jerez Seco Serie 1. It is most interesting because – just like all other wines from this house – it is produced from Pedro Ximénez grapes. In fact it’s the first PX Fino made in the sherry region since the foundation of the Denomination of Origin in 1934.

It may be a little surprising to see Pedro Ximénez being used for a dry sherry, but we have to keep in mind that the D.O. only defines the three grape varietals that can be used in the zone without specifying a specific grape for a specific style of wine. We already have sweet Palomino wines and in theory we can also have dry Moscatel in the future. In the nearby region Montilla – Moriles they already have a tradition of producing all styles of wines with PX. Currently only 3% of all vines in the sherry region are Pedro Ximénez, but bodegas have been replanting this varietal in recent years.

The wine started as an accident of nature: in 2015 around 20 barrels of their late harvest dry white Fermentación Lenta unexpectedly started to develop a layer of flor. They decided to keep it alive in two of them, in order to investigate the evolution of the flor. One of the barrels was made of classic American oak but the other of French oak. Both underwent a static ageing, making it even more singular. The current wine is a blend of these two only casks, so it can’t be reproduced any time soon. However the fact that it is named serie 1 means we can expect other styles of dry wines from Ximénez-Spínola in the future, like Amontillado and Palo Cortado.

It is said to have some typical notes of a Fino de Jerez, like the chalky albariza note and sapidity, but on the other hand it doesn’t have the typical bitter edge and displays some unique sensations in the mouth.

The bodega is releasing a numbered set of 600 magnum bottles, priced around € 125.

Tags: Fino, flor, Jerez, Jerez Seco, Pedro Ximénez, Ximénez-Spinola

About the Author

Ruben is a Certified Sherry Educator who fell in love with sherry some 25 years ago, but switched to a higher gear in 2013 and started writing about it. Lived in Madrid for a couple of years, now back in Belgium. I also run a whisky blog over at www.whiskynotes.be