Description: 

Palomino is the queen variety in the D.O. Jerez-Xérès-Sherry, in the south of Spain. However, this Andalusian denomination - one of the oldest in Spain - does not only live on this white grape. Pedro Ximenez also knows in this area (which forms a triangle between Jerez, Sanlúcar de Barrameda and El Puerto de Santa María) great productions, such as Ximénez-Spínola Delicado, a sweet wine made by the Ximénez-Spínola wineries. 

At the moment these wineries, which began their activity in the 18th century, are unique in the Marco Jerezano since they are the only ones dedicated exclusively to vinifying this variety that arrived in Spain from Germany during the reign of Charles V. How it was is not known. knows for sure, but legend assures that its arrival on the Peninsula must be attributed to Peter Siemens, a former soldier of the Tercios of Flanders who gave his name to the variety and which ended up leading to what everyone currently recognizes as Peter Jimenez. Native to the Rhine and Moselle rivers - where slate soils predominate -, Pedro Ximénez also develops and is successfully cultivated in the albariza soils of the D.O. Jerez-Xérès-Sherry. This area, very close to the mouth of the Guadalete and Guadalquivir rivers, is spongy and rich in limestone, allowing it to successfully retain both the rain (600 mm on average per year, mostly during the winter), and the night dew (influence direct from the Atlantic Ocean). In this way, when the heat reaches above 40ºC in the summer months (between May and September), this soil allows the vine to develop a large root system that searches in depth for the necessary moisture. 

The harvest of Ximénez-Spínola Delicado is done by hand, leaving it lying on mats on the floor of the vineyard, in alternate streets. This is what is known as litters and they aim to ensure that the grapes, at specific times, remain in the shade of the vines, avoiding continuous and direct exposure to the sun (as in some areas of Montilla-Moriles. With this process , which is known as raisining, it is possible to increase the sugar levels of the grape by dehydrating, condensing the natural fructose of the berry. Once raisined, the grapes are transferred in boxes to the winery, where they are pressed under strong pressures, obtaining a very low yield: 200 liters of must for each ton of fresh grapes. Once the must is obtained, during fermentation, comes the great peculiarity of Ximénez-Spínola Delicado that ferments in French oak barrels with the stopper open. This simple gesture It guarantees that the yeasts - as living organisms - have the necessary oxygen to live and function, converting the sugar in the must into ethyl alcohol. This will change once 13% alcohol is reached. At that moment the barrel will be covered, leaving the container without air. This ensures that the yeasts, little by little, die without finishing their work. It must be taken into account that after raisining, the Ximénez-Spínola Delicado grapes arrive with very high levels of sugar that cannot be fully processed by the yeasts and Ximénez-Spínola Delicado becomes a naturally sweet wine, whose sugar residual and alcohol come directly from the grapes. In this sense, it should be noted that this practice is not common in the area, where the custom or tradition is to top the wines, achieving the desired alcohol and sugar levels by adding wine alcohol. 

Details like this make Ximénez-Spínola a unique winery, where interest in quality prevails (rather than quantity), with limited and numbered productions, where each piece becomes a unique jewel of the Jerez region. A true privilege and luxury from the south of Spain.