1998 Toro Albala Don PX Gran Reserva Half Bottle 375ml, Montilla-Moriles Andalucia

Toro Albalá Don PX Gran Reserva in the half bottle format is one of Andalucía’s great treasures, a lush and hypnotic Pedro Ximénez drawn from sun dried grapes and matured for decades in the quiet, cathedral like cellars of Montilla Moriles. Toro Albalá has been the master of PX since the nineteen twenties, and their Gran Reserva bottlings capture the house style at its most profound. The wine begins with Pedro Ximénez grapes laid out on esparto mats under the blazing Andalusian sun where they raisin and concentrate their sugars. This ancient asoleo method gives the wine its incredible density and depth before it even reaches the cellar. Once vinified, the wine ages slowly in old American oak barrels, developing complex layers that only time can create.

The colour is almost black with flashes of mahogany and maple syrup at the rim. The aroma is intoxicating and deeply layered with notes of figs, Medjool dates, sultanas, treacle, toffee, molasses and spiced caramel. Beneath the sweetness lies smoke, roasted coffee, cocoa nibs, walnut, citrus peel and a whiff of warm Andalusian earth. With air the wine becomes even more expressive, revealing hints of vanilla bean, clove and dried orange.

The palate is astonishingly rich yet beautifully balanced. Viscous waves of fig paste, dried plum, carob, toffee and dark chocolate glide across the tongue. The sweetness is immense but never cloying thanks to the natural acidity retained in the sun dried fruit and the slow oxidative ageing that sharpens the wine’s shape. Layers of coffee, spice, burnt sugar and candied citrus peel unfold gradually as the wine lingers on the palate long after each sip. The texture is silky and almost syrup like, yet harmoniously structured. This is PX at its most luxurious and contemplative.

Food pairings lean into indulgence. Blue cheese, aged Gouda, pecan tart, sticky toffee pudding, dark chocolate desserts, vanilla custards, baklava or even a drizzle over vanilla ice cream all work beautifully. It can also be sipped after dinner entirely on its own as a meditation wine. Thanks to its extraordinary concentration and natural stability it will keep for decades in the cellar and remains fresh for months once opened.