JJB: $59.94*
Alvear’s decadent sweet wines from Jerez have quietly become some of the most critically successful wines in their category, thanks to a century's worth of reserve wine stored deep in their cellar. While those 100 year old soleras have been real attention grabbers, more recently Alvear has been releasing these single-vintage examples, and they are absolute gems made only in the best vintages.
Single vintage Sherry is exceptionally rare, as it takes an incredible amount of care to age the wine without refreshing the barrel every year. With each passing year the wine reduces in volume, concentrating the sugar and acidity, and reducing the volume they can bottle even further. The result is a rich, decadent, and dark nectar that has to be tasted to believe. Fewer than 600 half-bottles were produced, after spending 13 years in barrel, and it’s an incredibly complex and layered sweet treat that you won’t find anywhere else in the US!
Alvear is the oldest working winery in Andalucia, founded three hundred years ago, and few can claim this sort of experience working with Sherry. Alvear “pioneered the production of single-vintage Fino and sweet Pedro Ximenez” (Wine Advocate), and they have pretty much remained the go-to producer for this style of wine. Dense, oily, rich, and complex, this is a showstopping sweet wine from one of Spain’s oldest family wineries. Cheers!
95 points, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate: "There is a big jump in concentration and density in the 2004 Pedro Ximénez de Sacristía, and looking at the analytical data, it's also the one with more sugar and acidity, so something happened here... It's really dark and dense, oily, notably different from the 2006 that is only two years younger. It has more depth and complexity, the aromas feel less sweet, and the bitter notes appear—roasted coffee, bitter chocolate... 582 half bottles were filled in 2017. Drink 2019 - 2030" - Luis Gutierrez
*Offer publication date April 20, 2022. Pricing and availability subject to change.