#95- Pedro Ximenez

On the 3rd day of Wine-mas my true self gave to me- a bottle of Pedro Ximenez.
From Spain of course.

Yes, two days in a row, I've had a sherry (or sherry like). But the two sherries couldn't be any more different. While yesterday's Palomino was dry and limited in taste, the Pedro Ximenez is the exact opposite.

This wine is sweet and deep and full of flavour. But first, the most obvious thing to look at for this 2001 bottle of Alvear is the colour. The colour is a deep copper, bordering on a luscious dark brown colour. You can tell it's been aged, almost like a tawny port. The aromas are overwhelming- full of caramel, toffee, almonds, vanilla and raisins. The alcohol content is high and you can certainly smell the alcohol.

Taking a sip, you get much the same as you do on the nose. It is almost sickeningly sweet. But if you like sweet wine, you'll like this wine.

The grape is a white grape much to my surprise. For some reason I thought it was red for some reason but hey- we all learn something new everyday!

With a sweet sherry, my only logical choice was a dessert. I haven't bothered to make anything for Christmas (I'm way out of shape and need to get my ass in gear, not add to it) but I did have a box of Queen Anne chocolate covered cherries nearby so I allowed myself just one chocolate to pair it with. Surprisingly it wasn't bad. A chocolate covered cherry is quite sweet and I was pleased to see the sweetness of the chocolate was cut down by the Pedro Ximenez.

The Winery is Alvear, in the Montilla region of Spain. 

What can I say, I do enjoy this wine, and more so than yesterday's. But certainly not more than an ounce or two. That's all I've had tonight and it's more than enough for me. And with the high alcohol content, it's definitely all I need. The great thing about Sherry is it doesn't go bad so this wine will last for quite a while- or maybe just until Christmas Eve. My mom loves sherry so I might have to bring the sherry as a Christmas cheer.

Cheers to day three!

#50- Alicante Bouschet

The reds are getting thumbs up a lot these days (including from Craig) and this wine is no different! The Alicante grape is from Portugal and is also known as Alicante Bouschet. It's also named after the city of Alicant in Portugal. The grape is also fairly unique as it has flesh to it (most grapes used for wine don't)

The wine was bought again at Sherbrooke Liquor store the day I went in and found 8 grapes I hadn't yet tried. The bottle was a reasonable $21.99. The winery is the Grand D'Arte Winery.

The first thing I noticed about this wine is how spicy it is! It left a deep tingling sensation on my lips and the spices came out quite nicely with the wine. Drunk on Christmas Eve, this wine paired nicely with the tortiere my mother made for us (okay, store bought but usually it is homemade and hers is better anyway. As you can see by the colour of the tortiere below, it was definitely lacking something!).

Also noted for taste in this wine is plum and vanilla which you can actually taste. The blend is wonderful and just dances on your lips. It's also very dry and has very high alcohol content (14%) but very very good nonetheless.

The wine is also extremely dark, almost black in appearance. Drop something in your wine and you won't be finding it any time soon (until you drink your way to it I suppose). 

This is one wine Craig hasn't tried yet but I'm sure he'll get around to it- just a few more to go and he's all caught up!