Every Sunday, with an educational edge, I explore specific appellations or sub-regions, taking you along for the ride. If it’s old news, then brush up on some fading facts; if it’s uncharted territory, why not learn something new? If you know something I haven’t mentioned, then feel free to comment and share your experiences. Check out past Sunday posts here.

I haven’t mentioned anything about sherry on here for a long time – I didn’t drop it from that special place in my heart, but was just temporarily distracted by many other regions that have since come and gone. Today I’m looking at the bastard child of Andalucia, Montilla-Moriles, often overshadowed by its popular half-brother, Jerez.

A great shot of Montilla, which if you couldn’t tell is owned by Fotobank.

Montilla-Moriles DO (pronounced like mon-TEE-ya mor-EE-lez) is an area in the southern Spanish region of Andalucia surrounding the towns of Montilla and Moriles. In The Wines of Spain by Julian Jeffs, he describes Montilla as a “charming old town on a hilltop” and Moriles as “rather a dump.” Historically, the wines of MM were sold to the Jerez region and, with the easy access to water, were shipped around the world as sherry. Since 1933, when Jerez-Xérès-Sherry received its own DO (Denominaciones de Origen) appellation, Montilla wines were no longer allowed to be sold as sherry (yet today Pedro Ximénez grape-must can still be exported to Jerez for sweetening purposes). So, today you’ve got a region that shares most of its production methods with Jerez, making ‘sherry-style’ wines in every which way, yet because it’s 200 km northeast of the sherry triangle (the three towns of Jerez de la Frontera, Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Puerto de Santa Maria) they aren’t technically sherry. We all call these wines sherry anyways, because really, that’s what they are.

Now that we’ve gotten the semantics out of the way…

Montilla-Moriles has a continental climate – hot and dry with most of the rainfall spanning November to April – there’s much less humidity here as in the more coastal influenced Jerez towns. This all bodes well for Pedro Ximénez, a high-yielding white grape that makes up over 70% of the plantings, and has a thin skin susceptible to mold and mildew. In this climate, PX easily achieves high levels of ripeness, which means it can usually make fino style wines without any need for fortification (15% or 16% naturally). In a nutshell, fino wines are made with a layer of yeast growing on top of the wine, protecting it from oxygen, called flor. This desirable yeast, which thrives on wines around 15-15.5% alcohol, lives by feeding off things like glycerol and volatile acids in the wine and imparts a signature yeasty nuttiness. PX is quite versatile and can also make lusciously sweet wines, which it’s probably more famous for.

The ‘Just as in Jerez’ paragraph:
Just as in Jerez, the best sites for growing grapes are on chalky soils – here called Albero (instead of Albariza), trained as bushes (en vaso) and planted in 1.57m squares called Marco Real. The whole gamut of sherry styles are produced – Fino, Amontillado, Oloroso, and PX (often made from partially raisinated, sun-dried grapes). The Amontillado style, an in-between wine that has been both aged with flor to start and later oxidatively, actually originated originated in Montilla as the name means ‘in the style of Montilla.’ Also, just like in Jerez, the wines are usually aged in a solera system (a fractional blending of vintages), yet here the minimum aging length is 2 years instead of 3.

In Montilla-Moriles, the wines were all historically fermented in large egg-shaped earthenware (or more modernly, concrete) vessels called tinajas. Today, about half the wine is fermented in stainless steel tanks instead, but usually still finishes in tinajas.

Alvear is the undisputed king of Montilla-Moriles. The bodega was created in 1729 by Diego de Alvear y Escalera and is still owned by his descendants. Diego’s cellar master was a guy named Carlos Bilanueva who made a habit of stamping his initials on the best casks of wine; this lead to CB becoming a brand. The basic Alvear Fino and Amontillado labels have been my go-to in BC for well made sherry for only $15.

Alvear Fino CB

Made with 100% Pedro Ximenez grapes as the practice in Montilla-Moriles. The PX lends a richer style than typical in Jerez and certainly Sanlucar. There’s a great balance between the big almond nutty flavours and a fruitiness expressed with Asian pear and lemon. A little yeasty, but not as intense as you’d expect from the sherry region (not as briny or doughy). The finish is long and delicious. Very good. Available at Kits Wine Cellar for around $25 and is also being poured at Salt Tasting Room by the glass.

Shea at Just Grapes has been posting tons of great content from his recent visit to Jerez – check it out.

As always, please feel free to contribute any information, experience or tasting notes that you feel are relevant and check back next Sunday. Check out past Sunday posts here.