The Wine Blokes

Pedro Ximénez (also known as PX and many other variations) is the name of a white grape grown in certain regions of Spain, and also a varietal wine, an intensely sweet, dark, dessert sherry. Pedro Giménez (Pedro Jiménez) is a widely grown criolla variety in South America whose relationship to Pedro Ximénez is uncertain, as it shows ampelographic differences.

History

Legend has it that Pedro Ximénez originated in the Canary Islands before being taken to the Rhine. The grape then came to Jerez in the baggage of a soldier called Pedro Ximénez (or Pedro Siemens or Pedro Ximen), serving in the navy of Charles V (1500-1558) in the Spanish Netherlands. It seems unlikely that a grape that so likes warm weather would have done well so far north, and no current Rhine grape resembles PX, so the story is probably apocryphal.

An origin in the Canaries is possible, perhaps the most plausible explanation is that it is a Moorish grape that was ‘rebranded’ after the Reconquista.

Distribution and Wines

Argentina

“Pedro Giménez” is the most widely planted white grape in Argentina, where it is used to make fortified wines like those of its homeland in Jerez. As noted below, it is a criolla variety that is different from Spanish Pedro Ximénez, but the exact relationship is uncertain.^[1]

Australia

Historically Pedro Ximénez is grown in Australia to make fortified wines and sherries. It is often used for blending and to make botrytised dessert wines and still lends itself admirably in the Swan Valley the making of organic and preservative-free dessert wine today. This grape variety has thrived in Western Australia’s Swan Valley since its introduction there due to the hot climate growing conditions. The vine requires a rich soil and short pruning. ref: Despeissis, Adrian., The Handbook of Horticulture and Viticulture of Western Australia (1921 ed.)p277.

James Busby brought some Pedro Ximénez to Australia in 1832. Some were imported from Jerez and planted at Clarendon; a transfer from the Sydney Botanic Garden is recorded in around 1839.

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Chile

A small amount of white table wine is also made from this grape in the Elqui valley, in Chile (where it is labelled “Pedro Jimenez”), and it is also used to make pisco.

Spain

PX was originally grown in the Montilla-Moriles region, and along with Palomino Fino made up the majority of grapes used in the manufacture of sherry. However, the strong resistance of the Palomino to disease has led to a great decline in the use of Pedro Ximénez in traditional sherry, and despite its continued use in the sweeter blends of sherry in Montilla-Moriles, Málaga and other regions of Andalusia, its fame now rests principally on its use in the varietal raisin wine of the same name.

The dessert wine Pedro Ximénez is made by drying the grapes under the hot Spanish sun, concentrating the sweetness, which are then used to create a thick, black liquid with a strong taste of raisins and molasses that is fortified and aged in solera.

The grape is also grown in the regions of Valencia, Canary Islands and Extremadura, and occasionally also used in making a poorly-rated table wine.

USA

A little is grown in California.

Vine and Viticulture

Pedro Ximénez has cottony shoots, smallish 5-lobed leaves, elliptic berries, smallish conic bunches, and late fruit set. The soft, thin-skinned berries produce a very sweet juice.

The Pedro Giménez of Argentina has hairy shoots, whole or 3-lobed leaves, roundish berries, branchy bunches and sets fruit earlier