Bodegas: Ximenez Spinola

This very old firm seems to keep itself a bit below the radar, probably because of their very limited production which is mostly sold directly to private clients. Ximenez Spinola is a most unusual bodega in that they grow no Palomino at all and concentrate solely on what can be done with Pedro Ximenez, and the results are really interesting and quite prestigious.

The new bodega: much easier outside Jerez (foto:escuelainternacionaldecocina)

 The story began in Jerez when one Phelipe Antonio Zarzana Spinola established himself as an exporter of wines. The first documented sale was in 1729. Little more was known of them till later on in the century when it appears that they became growers and almacenistas around 1752. The old bodega was in the Plaza de Mendoza and dated back to the XIX century but it was too cramped and inconvenient so they moved out of town. It is still an independent family business, now in its ninth generation, but still run by the eighth, Jose Antonio Zarzana.

The old bodega. You can see why they moved! (foto:jetsliketaxis.com)

Grapes are sourced from the family's own 16 hectares of vineyard in the Pago Carrascal and grown organically. Business decisions are made by a family council, and decisions on winemaking and the quality of releases are made by a tasting and selection committee consisting of the family council and of course the oenologist. Any wine not perfect for bottling will be distilled. They have only 234 butts in their bodega, so annual releases are extremely limited, never more than 12,000 bottles, (usually fewer) and each one is numbered and signed.

All the following products are made exclusively from Pedro Ximenez:

Exceptional Harvest, a new luscious vintage PX sweet table wine, late harvested German style and unfortified
Medium Dry Old Harvest 1964 solera of dry PX blended with some wine from the 1948 solera of sweet PX
PX Muy Viejo Probably the most normal of the wines
PX de Añada Not a vintage wine in the normal Sherry sense as it is unfortified and sold young

Licor de Brandy Very old and aged, of course, in PX barrels
Brandy Cigar Club No 1, No 2 and No 3 depending on strength and age - all are a minimum of 25 years old and there are only 350 bottles of each annually.
Single Barrel Brandy - 15 year old PX is distilled and aged as brandy for another 15 years in the San Cristino solera (1948) and spends its last year in a numbered single barrel
Brandy Criaderas Distilled from criaderas in the San Cristino solera and aged for 15 years in old chestnut barrels
Vinagre PX en rama
Vinagre Paula Coll 25 year old PX vinegar


Address: Carretera Jerez - Sanlúcar, Desvio Las Tablas, km 1.5, 11408 Jerez de la Frontera, Cadiz
Phone: (+34) 956 348 000
Web: www.ximenezspinola.com
Visits: No mention, but probably by appointment