Get to know Pedro Ximénez

Hello! Many articles have been published on this blog talking about wine, but one of the main issues that affect our Montilla-Moriles area has not yet been addressed: What variety predominates in it? Where does it come from? Why is it the most cultivated variety? What types of wines are made from Pedro Ximénez?

What variety predominates in the Montilla-Moriles area?

The main variety that defines this area with Protected Designation of Origin is Pedro Ximénez.

This variety has adapted perfectly to the type of soil and climate that predominates in these lands in the south of Córdoba.

Pedro Ximénez needs little water to survive and withstands very well the high temperatures that are very prone to these locations.

Albarise and porous soil, unusual rains, hot and dry summers… are the ideal conditions for Pedro Ximénez to feel comfortable and produce abundantly.

Where does Pedro Ximénez come from?

There are several stories about how this type of grape arrived in our Montilla-Moriles area.

If you click here, you can find a text prepared by Juan Portero Laguna, Agricultural Technical Engineer and the person most responsible for ensuring the good condition of the vineyards grown in this entire area of Montilla-Moriles.

The most widespread story, and one that almost everyone knows, is the one that tells that a soldier from the Thirds of Flanders brought some shoots of this variety from the Rhine Valley (Germany) to plant here.

Discrepancies appear when this variety is compared with those existing in those areas, there are many differences that highlight this history, although a logical explanation for all this would be the evolution and adaptation of this plant to this climate.

If we accept this conclusion as correct, I have to add that the name of this variety is collected from the person who brought these shoots from Germany, a soldier of Montillano origin named Pedro Ximénez and that this grape comes from the German Riesling variety.

The good adaptation of this variety caused it to spread throughout the area, thus becoming the most suitable variety and, consequently, the most cultivated of all the towns in the south of Córdoba.

What wines are made from Pedro Ximénez?

The must obtained from Pedro Ximénez is used to make a multitude of wines.

Perhaps the best known is the one that bears its own name, the Pedro Ximénez, which is obtained by raisining the grape grain. If you want to know how we make our Pedro Ximénez at Bodegas La Aurora, click here.

In addition to this wine, the must obtained from the Pedro Ximénez grape is also used to make young, fine, Amontillado and Oloroso wines.

Each type of wine has different qualities due fundamentally to the way it is obtained, even if the same must is used for all of them.

For example, to obtain a good fine wine, the Pedro Ximénez must must spend at least 3 years in oak barrels under the criaderas and soleras system. This is how you get our Fino Sierra.

For Amontillados and Oloroso, exactly the same thing happens, it is necessary that they rest for a few years, in oak barrels, while for young wines it is not necessary.

Currently, we are immersed in the middle of the harvest, picking the grapes that are acquiring the appropriate alcohol content, the most abundant variety could not be other than the Pedro Ximénez.

To finish this article, I would like to ask that if anyone has information to contribute on this topic, to do so through the comments, it would be great.Greetings and good luck to all the farmers who are reaping the fruit of their work!

By Rafael Espejo.