Almost off the charts, the NV Pedro Ximénez Solera 1830 comes from the oldest Solera blend of the estate and spent on average more than 50 years in American oak casks, with some lots going back to 1830. Black, inky, and massively concentrated and rich, it has an insane bouquet of crushed raisins, figs, coffee liqueur, and caramel. While powerful and just about over the top, it stays clean and balanced, and just keeps on going on the finish. It’s another wine to sip after a meal.

The oldest and most concentrated sweet wine from Alvear is the NV Pedro Ximénez Solera 1830, a wine that cannot change despite this new bottling from January 2017, as it's so old, concentrated and sweet (480 grams of sugar per liter) that we wouldn't feel its evolution over our lifetime. I've tasted and described this wine before and it's as good, old and powerful as I remember it. The notes I mentioned before, noble woods, espresso coffee, vanilla and coconut are still there and so is the complex, velvety and fine palate, with a luscious and never-ending finish. Unfortunately what is changing with this wine is availability and price. 318 half bottles were produced. - LG