2011 Alvear Pedro Ximenez de Añada Montilla-Moriles (375ml)

Alvear’s 2011 Pedro Ximenez de Anada is the most amazing Pedro Ximenez I have ever tasted. It may also be one of the first to be vintage-dated. The grapes were hand-harvested in September, then allowed to dry in the sunshine until they began fermentation, which is ultimately arrested by the addition of spirits. The wine spent six months in large American oak prior to being bottled. It is an amazing effort that looks like molasses. Notes of macerated figs, chocolate and caramelized tropical fruits emerge from this full-bodied, unctuously-textured wine. While sweet, it has enough acidity to balance out its richness. This astonishing 2011 Pedro Ximenez will last as long as any reader of this newsletter. (RP) (11/2013)

This PX from the Montilla-Moriles D.O. is always outstanding. This vintage opens with aromas of burnt apricot, orange rind, caramel and simmering brown sugar. It’s sticky almost the point of being cloying, while intense, layered flavors of toffee, coffee and brown sugar go on for miles. Only 300 cases of this great-value wine were made, so act fast and buy a few 375s if you can. *Editors' Choice* (MS) (5/2015)

Offers caramel and toffee aromas, with singed peanut, date, ginger and molasses notes at the core. The unctuous finish shows a flicker of buckwheat for contrast. (JM) (8/2014)