For just about all of the 20 years she has worked at Wynn's Coonawarra Estate, winemaker Sarah Pidgeon has wanted to create something special from the few rows of Pedro Ximénez vines planted in front of the winery.
The vines date back over a century and were originally used to produce fortified wines. Pedro Ximénez (also known as PX) is the name of a white Spanish grape variety that can produce outstanding sherries and tawny port styles and was often distilled.
Now the first fortified from Wynn's in decades is about to be released - a joint effort between Pidgeon and Treasury Wine Estates fortified guru James Godfrey.
Over the years, Pidgeon has experimented with making sherry from the PX grapes, as well as a shiraz/PX blend and a moscato style. None made the grade.
Now she is thrilled that a wine likely to be labelled as "Aged Dessert style" will be released later this year - made using a solera system that guarantees an average five years of age.
I was lucky enough to get an advanced taste of this smooth, intense and raisiny wine earlier this week and can confirm it will be something special.
"The vines were planted in Coonawarra either in 1907 or 1917," Pidgeon says. "The records are not at all clear. It has been decades since the grapes were used in a fortified style, so it is really exciting to see this project come to fruition."
No price or labelling has yet been announced but the small volumes are likely be restricted to cellar door and mailing list only. Stay tuned.
The vines date back over a century and were originally used to produce fortified wines. Pedro Ximénez (also known as PX) is the name of a white Spanish grape variety that can produce outstanding sherries and tawny port styles and was often distilled.
Now the first fortified from Wynn's in decades is about to be released - a joint effort between Pidgeon and Treasury Wine Estates fortified guru James Godfrey.
Over the years, Pidgeon has experimented with making sherry from the PX grapes, as well as a shiraz/PX blend and a moscato style. None made the grade.
Now she is thrilled that a wine likely to be labelled as "Aged Dessert style" will be released later this year - made using a solera system that guarantees an average five years of age.
I was lucky enough to get an advanced taste of this smooth, intense and raisiny wine earlier this week and can confirm it will be something special.
"The vines were planted in Coonawarra either in 1907 or 1917," Pidgeon says. "The records are not at all clear. It has been decades since the grapes were used in a fortified style, so it is really exciting to see this project come to fruition."
No price or labelling has yet been announced but the small volumes are likely be restricted to cellar door and mailing list only. Stay tuned.
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