Manuel and Lorenzo Valenzuela own 1200 Pedro Ximenez vines. They are not rooted in chalky Alabariza soils near the Atlantic in Jerez, where PX has its ancestral home, but in grey-brown slate at 1300 metres in the Andalusian Alpujarras.
Although the two share the intentions of their fellow winemakers in the core zone of sherry, picking their grapes late and drying them in the sun, unlike them, their grapes have a present and supporting acidity that provides a counterpoint to the syrupy consistency that is as pleasant as it is decisive.
The Xarab is matured for three years in oak barrels. As with their dry wines, the Valenzuela do not sulphurise the PX.
Style & flavours
Honey, dried fruit, almonds, sweet spices and orange peel. The Xarab is not lacking in flavours. The texture is creamy and concentrated, but at the same time bundled with a lively freshness. After 8 years of ageing in the bottle, it is now approaching its peak.
data sheet
- Grape variety: Pedro Ximenez
- Plant protection: Only sulfur, copper and preparations on a vegetable or animal base, not certified
- Vineyard: Slate, very rocky and barren, stick culture
- Harvest: very ripe grapes, by hand,
- Fermentation: spontaneous | Wild yeast, two pressing to get the whole sweetness out of the grapes, in the small wooden barrel
- Ageing: 3 years in the small wooden barrel
- Filtration: no
- SO₂: not sulphured
- Alcohol: 13%
- Closure: Natural corks
- Drinking temperature: 8-10 ° C
- Perfect drinking maturity: from now on - 2050
- Content and price per liter: 0.75 l/(€ 74.75/l)
