Montilla-Moriles

[Susan in FL]

Last night, out to dinner, we asked what Port and Sherry they had for an after dinner drink, and they recommended 1975 Pedro Ximénez Montilla-Moriles Don Gran Reserva, by Bodegas Toro Albalá, after clarifying that it was not Port or Sherry. (The reason I am able to write that properly with correct spelling is because we bought a bottle to take home, we liked it so much.)

We know wines fairly well, but were unfamiliar with this. What a wonderful discovery! I immediately thought of posting a note here, to ask what you all know about it. Is Montilla-Moriles the grape? Is that always a dessert wine? Have you tasted it? We're looking forward to your comments.

[wineserver]

Toro Albala is imported by Classical Wines in Seattle, Washington. Pedro Ximenez is the grape and Montilla-Moriles is the Denominacion de Origen in Spain. These wines are close cousins to Sherry, geographically close too, but the Pedro Ximinex is the dominant grape in M-M for both dry and sweet fortified wines. In Sherry, PX is bottled varietally but much more rarely and more often used as a sweetening agent. I am thrilled to hear a restaurateur took the time to promote this wine. Might I ask where this was? By the way, the current vintage bottling, 2000, is delicious and one of the best values in sweet and sticky.

Edited December 13, 2003 by wineserver (log)

[Susan in FL]

Thank you. I was way off base in my guesses about the meaning of some of that.

The restaurant is Spanish River Grille and Wine Bar, in New Smyrna Beach, FL. It's my current favorite local restaurant.

In this thread is what I posted last night afterwards, when, with the glow of the wine and food still with me, I didn't care about correct grammar or spelling.

[Jason Perlow]

You almost can't call that wine a "wine" though. Its like pancake syrup. I love it, though.

[Craig Camp]

Here is a link to a thread with some Montilla/Sherry discussion:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=ST&f=24&t=25751&

...and a link to a sherry article where PX is discussed.

http://egullet.com/?pg=ARTICLE-campsherry

[Susan in FL]

Thank you!