B-21 Top Recommendation Read More
Niche wines are thrilling; I love hunting them down – even in tiny parcels. Especially these heady concoctions from Andalusia in Spain, where time seems to stand still. Imagine the amazement; pulling a cork on bottles that have rested in silent cellars since the 1920s, '40s, '50s or '60s. Think of the history these bottles have witnessed. This corner of Spain is literally the birthplace of not only Spanish wine, but that of Western Europe's as well. This place – Andalusia, which includes Jerez, Montilla, and Gibraltar – once formed the center of the Western World. The family behind Bodegas Toro Albala (producers of the Don PX) traces their local roots to the 19th century, forming their modern business in an abandoned electricity plant just north of Montilla in the '20s. Theirs is Pedro Ximenez country – that grape destined for intense, sultry, broodingly deep, dark sweet wines that are becoming increasingly popular Stateside. My relation with the family's exclusive representative stateside means access to a treasure-trove of ancient glories. Wines which Wine Advocate calls "mindboggling," decadently sweet, liquid dark chocolate specimens that'll make you melt where you stand. |