
Text: Mara de Miguel @by_marademiguel | Photography: Andreína Contreras @andrecontrerasphoto | Cover photo: The Pedro Ximénez grape is a grape that can be used to undergo different types of maturation and aging in the broadest wine spectrum .
Reading time: 5 minutes
The wine sector and its fashions move and, from time to time, there is a fever to drink and consume a variety of grape that is new. It only takes one hit and Pedro Ximénez could be next in the limelight of bars and restaurants in the world’s TOP10.
Thin-skinned grape, with good acidity but with the capacity to generate a sugar content in its must of 30 degrees natural Brix-Beume, or what is the same 15 degrees of potential alcohol, in the blink of an eye.
An aromatic grape – although many insist on saying that it is neutral – and very versatile, which could be among the quintet of noble ones – Chardonnay, Semillon, Pinot Gris, Riesling, Chenin Blanc – precisely because it is an ambivalent grape, and that serves to take it through different types of maturation and aging in the widest wine spectrum. From biological aging – to age under a veil of flor – to oxidative aging – with those touches of tertiary aromas; to mature in Bordeaux barrels –225– with its own lees and with the battonage removed from its lees to increase, among others, the body and volume of the wine; to make young dry wines, semi-sweet, natural sweet wines, and also naturally sweet wines, without forgetting sparkling wines using the Traditional Method. Not to mention the vinegar aged by the Soleras system, competing with Modena or Sherry, jams, caviar or the legendary arrope (wine syrup).

The book Wine Grapes Book, by Jancis Robinson, is considered one of the most important references regarding grape varieties in the world.
In the book on the grapes of the world, considered the Bible of grapes (https://winegrapes.org) by Jancis Robinson, there is no mention of any grape that is so versatile on all continents. Can you ask for anything more from a grape? Yes, the one that is well handled, with the affection it deserves. It’s not all about producing kilos.
The vineyard must be put between the ropes and with a measured stress to obtain the best quality of grapes possible in the harvest, but that is a history of interventionist practices in the vineyard or its management and there, information is power versus the terroir. Thanks to the fact that the IFAPA of Cabra has taught a couple of courses on green pruning actions in the vineyard this year, the results should not be long in coming and I hope the students take to the letter the saying “that even more high yield of hl/ha, the aromas are diluted.” If we reduce the maximum amount that the vineyard can be reduced to, it will thank you in the form of fabulous grapes.

If we reduce the maximum amount that the vineyard can be reduced to, it will thank you in the form of fabulous grapes.
Local grapes that became global
There are about 10,000 types of grapes in the world and, although not all of them are used to produce wine, it should be noted that only 13 occupy a third of the world’s vineyards, according to data from the OIV. And the fashion for new things is also an issue that affects grapes. In the case of white wines, at an international level Chardonnay has taken the lead since 1980, and the famous Paris trial – which marks the 45th anniversary this May 24 – had a lot to do with the placing on the scene in the globalized world of this grape, which has been planted ad nauseam, with different rootstocks in any corner of the planet that can produce grapes, because the market demanded it.
Then came Italian grapes, Pinot Grigio – not quality Pinot Gris –, the Trebbiano of all those who fell in love with Tuscany, and which the cinema has shown us along with Sangiovese until there was not a drop left in their botti.
The following decade, winegrowers from New Zealand came to remind us that Sauvignon Blanc, which is the Queen of the Loire Valley in France, had to take the reins of the trendy topic of wine, in any of its versions, and there was no table between California to Stellenbosh, who has not had a Sauvignon Blanc served very cold.
The surprise came when, five years ago, the Albariño – a grape that in Spain we had only for eating mussels, with all due respect – took a triple somersault and now there is no self-respecting restaurant or bar that does not have one by the glass. albariño, from the Big Apple to Moscow.

There are about 10,000 types of grapes in the world and, although not all of them are used to produce wine, it should be noted that only 13 occupy a third of the world’s vineyards.
The next grape in the world ranking
And the question is next? (the next one?) I think it’s time to take advantage of the wave and position Pedro Ximénez as that versatile and versatile grape. Who knows if in two decades there will be Pedro Ximénez in Rutherglen, Australia, or in the Colchagua area (Chile). Let us remember that there is a Pedro Gimenez grape that is grown in Argentina only for local consumption and that, despite the name, does not share the ampelographic family tree with the Pedro Ximénez de Montilla.
In Spain there is also Pedro Ximénez grape in the Málaga area, in Valencia, where many of the new seedlings are coming from and it is not the pure Pedro Ximénez Montillana.
Outside our borders there are also Pedro Ximénez planted in New Zealand, in Australia, in Chile, in Uruguay, in the United States, in Cyprus and in Argentina as Pedro Gimenes Rio Colorado – despite the name it is not Pedro Ximénez – although there are also others Pedro Gimenez that are used as a synonym for the authentic Pedro Ximénez, according to data from the International Wine Observatory.

A moment during the harvest at the Lagar de la Salud, in Montilla.
Other grapes that are in pole position
This long-distance race has other protagonists, other Spanish grapes that have taken the lead and are climbing positions such as Viura, or Xarello, although they do not have something that Pedro Ximénez has in excess and that is that, in terms of modern marketing, Pedro Ximénez has amazing storytelling to tell. Who wouldn’t want to drink a wine than an intrepid soldier from the Tercios of Flanders who, bored with the war, hid a stick and thumb of a variety like Riesling to plant it on his land and dedicate himself to cultivating it?
The story is served, now all that remains is for the hastag of #amontillate or #Ilovepedroximenez to take hold and consumers begin to get excited about a long-term grape.