I’m going to start this post with a PSA: Most Sherry wines are dry. I say this because it’s a common misconception that all are dessert wines when in reality most are at the opposite end of the spectrum. Now I’m going to completely undo that message by sharing a bottle of Pedro Ximénez, the sweetest style of Sherry.

The truth is that Pedro Ximénez, PX for short, is pretty much the sweetest style of wine, point-blank. I realize that will put many of you off right away, so admittedly, these wines aren’t for everyone. I love dessert wines though and for those of you who are with me, I highly recommended searching these out. They taste like spiced fall desserts in a glass. Specifically, for me, they taste like sticky toffee pudding/sticky date pudding, which I fell in love with while traveling around Australia and New Zealand. These wines capture that flavor in liquid form.  

😋😋😋

Brief Sherry Basics

Sherries are fortified wines that come from Andalucía in southwestern Spain, particularly around the city of Jerez de la Frontera or simply Jerez. Sherry is a very complex category of wine with many different subcategories representing a wide range of flavors. They can broadly be divided into those that have been aged under flor (a film-like layer of yeast) and those that are aged in an oxidative style. As sherries are fortified wines, they’re all finished with the addition of a distilled spirit like brandy. They’re predominantly aged in the “Sherry Triangle” made up of the cities of Jerez, Sanlúcar de Barrameda, and El Puerto de Santa María The main grape for most Sherry styles is Palomino, but Pedro Ximénez is named after the grape it’s made from.  Despite the dark color of many sherries, the grapes are actually white and the color comes from oxidative aging.

Sherry is famous for the solera system, the rather complex method used to mature the wines. This is a system of “fractional blending” in which wines at different stages of aging are blended together, which the result of combining different vintages. Each solera is made up of various criaderas, which are essentially tiers. As wine is drawn from the final tier, the barrels are topped up with wines from the next tier up, and so on. Click here or here for a more in-depth look at the solera system.

Image borrowed from Sherry.wine

Pedro Ximénez

Most Pedro Ximénez grapes are grown in Montilla-Morilles, which has a hot climate that is better suited to the grape than some other sections of Andalucia. Here the grape accounts for about 70% of the plantings. The grapes are then taken to be aged in the soleras in the bodegas in Jerez et. al. 

It’s worth noting that Montilla-Morilles does have its own D.O., but the wines are generally not fortified.

The PX grapes are raisinated to further concentrate the sugars. As a result, the sugar levels are never below 250 g/l and often higher than 400. The wines then go through the solera system and are aged oxidatively. The resulting wines are deep, dark, and syrupy, with a silky texture that coats the glass. The wines show dried fruit flavors of figs, raisins, and dates along with flavors of nuts, coffee, licorice, and molasses, that develop further with age. At the same time, you can expect aged bottles to taste fairly similar and to keep well as they’ve been fortified and all of that sugar is a preservative.

In comparison to most grapes used for dessert wines, PX is fairly low in acid, but it manages to have just enough for balance. The added alcohol from the fortification process also helps to balance the flavor. The wines are somewhat erroneously labeled Vino Dulce Natural, even though they’re made by fortifying the must of sun-dried grapes, neither of which happens naturally.

The recommended serving temperature for these wines is about 50 to 57°F, and some producers suggest serving their wines even cooler. Serving the wines on the cooler side will help the sweetness appear less perceptible if that’s a concern, but remember that it will also mute the flavors and aromas. The flavors are decadent and intense, and a little goes a long way. Happily, the wines keep well for a couple of months once opened. 

As a quick aside, in Chile, Pedro Jiménez (as it is spelled there) is used to make Pisco as well as dry, still wines.

The Wine & Pairing: Bodega Dios Baco Oxford 1.970 Pedro Ximénez NV & a Banana Cake

The origins of Bodegas Dios Baco date back to 1765, when the original buildings were built, then in 1848 the firm that would go onto to become Dios Baco was founded, but it has changed hands several times since then. It was purchased by  José Páez Morilla in 1992, and he now runs it with his daughter Alejandra. He renovated the cellar, and today they make small-batch Sherry, as well as still wines, spirits, and vinegar.

I couldn’t much on their website about the 1.970 PX (17% ABV), but elsewhere I found that this is the name of their younger, core range of PX, as they have much pricier bottlings. I’ve had this bottle in “the cellar” for quite a few years now, but it does appear to still be available on the market, and Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast put recent release prices at between $18-$21 for a 500 ml bottle, which is quite an excellent value for what it is. It’s also a good 'I’ll just try this out' price point for a very good representation of the style.

On the nose, the wine smells like spiced coffee and a big mix of dried fruits – figs, apricots, prunes, dates, and sultana raisins – that have been hit with a light squeeze of orange juice. On the palate, these flavors are joined by notes of toffee, more spices, and walnuts. It is very luscious and smooth, and it does have mouth-coating viscosity, so a small pour is really all you need. 

PX wines are easily dessert on their own, or with a simple cookie or biscotti alongside. They’re also excellent pairings for dark chocolate and strong cheeses. If you do want to have a full dessert alongside it, this is one wine that holds up to the sweetest of desserts where others fail. It’s particularly good with nut-based desserts, spice cakes, and caramel flavors. PX is fantastic poured on top of ice cream – it basically tastes like rum raisin on its own. 

My mind was working in this vein when I was thinking of what to pair with this bottle. I figured I’d lean into the syrupy consistency and use it as exactly that. I found what I was looking for in a recipe for Banana Cakes with Rum Caramel in Sweet by Yotam Ottolenghi & Helen Goh. These cakes are essentially a more elegant take on banana bread with a fluffier consistency that is flavored with rum. In the recipe, they’re topped with a rum caramel sauce at the end. 

I decided to just make it as one single cake, flavored it with PX, skipped the caramel sauce completely, and just topped it with the PX. I also couldn’t resist adding a scoop of vanilla ice cream as well. The whole combo is just delicious and feels so perfect for the fall. In the days following, we’ve also been adding berries, and that has been wonderful too. I highly recommend the entire ensemble, just pour yourself a tiny taste of the wine on its own on the side so as to experience all of its flavors.

cake, banana, spice cake

dessert

Servings: 8 to 10

Adapted by: Nicole Ruiz Hudson

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Banana Cake with PX

Prep Time: 15 MinCooking Time: 1 HourTotal Time: 1 H & 15 M

Lightly adapted from the recipe for Banana Cakes with Rum Caramel from Sweet by Yotam Ottolenghi & Helen Goh

Ingredients

• 7 Tbsp/ 100 grams unsalted butter, cut into cubes, plus extra for greasing
• ⅓ cup/ 70 g granulated sugar
• ⅓ cup/ 70 g light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• ¾ cup plus 1 tbsp /110 g self-rising flour, plus extra for dusting (see note*)
• 1 cup/ 100 g almond meal (almond flour also works)
• 2 Tbsp buttermilk powder
• ⅛ tsp salt
• ½ - 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ¾ tsp baking soda
• 2 to 3 ripe bananas, peeled and mashed (8 oz/230 g)
• ⅓ cup plus 2 tbsp/100 g sour cream
• 2 Tbsp Pedro Ximénez or other dark dessert wine
• Powdered sugar, for dusting

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Lightly grease a 9-inch springform bundt pan, dust with flour, and set aside.
2. Place the butter and both sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment in place. Beat on medium-high speed for about 3 minutes, until light but not too fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, then add the vanilla extract. Beat for another minute to combine.
3. Sift the flour, almond meal, buttermilk powder, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda into a large bowl; if not all the almond meal makes it through the sieve, it’s okay to tip it in. Whisk to combine and set aside.
4. Place the mashed bananas in a separate bowl with sour cream and PX. Mix well, then add a quarter of this to the butter-sugar mixture, beating on low speed to incorporate. Add a quarter of the dry ingredients, and continue to alternate between the wet and dry ingredients until everything is combined.
5. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake for 25 to 28 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove the from the oven and set aside until completely cool, then unmold onto a platter. Sprinkle with powdered sugar using a mesh strainer.
6. Serve each piece with PX drizzled on top, and with ice cream or whipped cream if desired.

Notes:

• If you don’t have self-rising flour, add 1 tsp baking powder and an extra pinch of salt.
• The original recipe calls 6 individual bundt pans or 7 jumbo muffin pans. I’ve used a 9-inch springform bundt pan instead, but you can certainly make individual cakes as well. 
• The original recipe also calls for malted milk powder. I love this flavor but didn’t have any, so I substituted in powdered buttermilk, which worked well and adds a subtle tang to the cake. 
• The cake will keep for about 5 days in an airtight container.

https://www.sommstable.com/2021/10/bodegas-dios-baco-px-and-banana-cake.html

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I think I’ve made my appreciation of France’s Loire Valley known. It produces an incredibly diverse array of food-friendly wines, many at very reasonable prices. This region, with its plethora of romantic chateaux (I sooooooo want to visit), is also a treasure trove for wine drinkers interested in sustainable, organic, biodynamic, and natural wines. About 30% of Loire Valley vineyards today are farmed sustainably or organically, with the numbers increasing each year. Moreover, many of the country’s most celebrated and earliest adopters of these practices come from the banks of the Loire River.

Map borrowed from WineFolly.com.

Today we’re opening a bottle from one of those celebrated OG’s of organics/biodynamics – Domaine Huet. This domaine has been a standard-bearer for Vouvray, and by extension Chenin Blanc, for a very long time. They make wines in the spanning Chenin’s full range – sparkling, dry, semi-dry, and dessert styles. I’ve never had a bottle from Huet that wasn’t freak’n delicious! 

The domaine was founded in 1928 after Victor Huët, formerly a Parisian bistro owner returned from World War II with shattered nerves and lungs. He resettled in Vouvray and purchased the first of the domaine’s famed vineyards, Le Haut-Lieu. Victor’s son Gaston worked with his father from the very start and built up the winery’s reputation for quality over the next 55 years.He eventually brought on his son-in-law, Noël Pinguet, and 1979 by chef de culture, Jean-Bernard Berthomé. As Gaston got older he decided he needed a partner and ultimately brought on New Yorker Anthony Hwang. Today the domaine is owned and operated by his children, brother-sister duo, Sarah & Hugo Hwang, who have worked hard to preserve the legacy by maintaining key members of the team.

The vineyards at Domaine Huet have always been worked without chemicals, but in the late 1980s Gaston Huët, Pinguet, and Bertholmé heard grape grower François Bouchet extolling the benefits of biodynamics at a conference, and decided to try it out for themselves. They put the principles into practice in 1988, by 1990 all of their vineyards were being farmed biodynamically, and they received their Demeter certification in 1993. 

Sarah Hwang described the domaine’s history with biodynamics in a 2019 article for SevenFiftyDaily:

 “Never in the history of the estate have we used chemical fertilizers or pesticides . . . After the Second World War, there was a harmony that was lost,” says Hwang. “Biodynamics offered the possibility of reconnecting with nature. For us, the philosophy is really about balance.”

Map borrowed from WineFolly.com.

THE WINE AND PAIRING

For this post, I decided to open a rather special bottle of Domaine Huet that has been in “my cellar” for quite a while – the Domaine Huet Vouvray Clos du Bourg Moelleux Première Trie 2006. 

Chenin’s high acidity makes it a good candidate for aging in general, and when made by a winery of the caliber of Domain Huet’s, it’s very likely that you have a bottle that can be easily laid down for a very long time. Sugar is another preservative, and moelleux is among the sweetest styles of Vouvray. (If you see the term liquoreux, that’s the sweetest style, but this is up there.) All together this 2006 was alive and kick’n – no sweat. In fact, we accidentally left the bottle out overnight after opening it, not realizing there was a little wine left in the bottle – the wine was still totally fine when I tried it the next morning.

Moelleux styles are also typically botrytized wines and showed the honeyed character and complexity that goes with noble rot. (Check out this post for a more in-depth description of botrytis.) Because noble rot affects grapes unevenly, growers working with botrytized grapes will often collect them in various “tries” or passes through the vineyards. Première Tries, therefore, means “first selection” and essentially indicates that the wine is made from the best grapes of the vintage. 

Huet has three principal vineyards – Le Haut-Lieu, Le Mont, and Clos du Bourg. All three are located on Vouvray’s “Première Côte” (or “first slope”), home to the majority of the region’s best vineyards – basically, the Grand Cru of the area. Today’s bottle comes from Clos du Bourg, an ancient, walled vineyard. Gaston Huet believed it to be the greatest of all Vouvray vineyards as it has the Première Côte’s shallowest, stoniest soils. The wines tend to balance intense minerality and generous texture.

On the day we opened this bottle, I picked up notes of candied grapefruit, tangerine, ginger, and honeysuckle on the nose. The wine was very layered on the palate. The tangerine and honeyed grapefruit notes were joined by bruised golden apples and dried tropical fruits. This is definitely a sweet wine, but the sweetness is balanced by a pleasant hint of bitterness like grapefruit pith was mixed in, as well as earthy notes of straw and stones, and even a touch of chamomile. Greg compared it to pink grapefruit lemonade sweetened with honey. 

Although this is a dessert wine, I thought I’d try to create an entrée to pair with it. I immediately thoughts of duck a l’orange. The tiny hint of bitterness I picked in the wine also made me think of gastrique, which blends sugar and a sour element like citrus juice or vinegar. That’s the idea I ran with and chose a mixture of grapefruit and lemon juice to create a version of this sweet-and-sour sauce. 

The sauce topped simply prepared sous vide pork tenderloin. I really think sous vide cooking is ideal for preparing pork tenderloin since it makes this otherwise easy-to-overcook cut pretty foolproof. To complete the dish, I roasted some sliced carrots which were glazed in a bit of the gastrique and tossed with wilted kale and a little blue cheese. 

It was a very good match as the flavors in the wine and the dish mirrored each other nicely. The blue cheese made for a great salty contrast. In fact, I liked how those two worked so well that I cut a couple of additional slices of cheese for us to enjoy with the wine after dinner. The wine also wasn’t half bad with dark salted chocolate with almond, complementing the chocolate the way it might work with candied oranges.

GEEKY DETAILS

The current average price on this wine is $99. The release price is usually in the $60-$70 range.

Alcohol: 12.5%

If Vouvray is new to you, I invite you to check out this post where you’ll find a cheat sheet on the background and details of the region.  Here's an infographic from WineFolly.com that shares the basics on Vouvray.

I couldn’t a find tech sheet describing the winemaking for this wine (neither for current nor past vintages) but you can find additional information on the winery and its wines the Rare Wine Co. and Polaner Selections. 

One more quick note, Domaine Huet has always held back a good percentage of wines, so it’s not uncommon to find library vintages out in the world. They’re a good bet if you’re interested in older vintages since both the house and the grape are known for their ageability. 

OTHER POSSIBILITIES

As I mentioned above, I think this would be fantastic with duck à l'orange, as well as with Peking Duck, and other sweeter Asian dishes. 

It’d also be perfect with strong cheeses and fruit desserts, particularly those featuring peaches, apples, pears, or candied citrus. I’m conjuring up images of apple strudel. 

For a dessert pairing, consider this Cinnamon Apple Crème Brûlée. I think you could easily swap the wines and pairings in these two posts.

LoireValleyWine.com recommends sweet styles of Vouvray “as an aperitif, or with desserts featuring apples, pears, nougat or almond paste; blue cheese such as Fourme d’Ambert, Roquefort and Bleu d’Auvergne.” 

*****

sous vide, pork tenderloin, gastrique, sweet-and-sour

dinner

French

Servings: 4

By: Nicole Ruiz Hudson

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Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin with Citrus Gastrique and Roasted Carrots with Kale and Blue Cheese

Prep Time: 10 MinCooking Time: 1 H & 10 MTotal Time: 1 H & 20 M

Ingredients

For the pork:

• 1 pork tenderloin
• ⅛ tsp white pepper
• ⅛ tsp ginger
• ⅛ tsp onion powder
• 2 to 4 sprigs of thyme
• lemon and/or grapefruit zest, a generous pinch, optional
• Salt, as needed
• Olive oil

For the carrots and kale:

• 1 bunch of medium carrots, about 8, sliced into approximately ½” pieces
• 2 to 3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar, or as needed
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 shallot, finely minced
• 2 to 3 sprigs of thyme
• 2 cups chopped kale
• ¼ cup crumbled blue cheese, or to taste
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper

For the gastrique:

• ½ cup of sugar
• 2 Tbsp of water, or as needed
• Juice of 1 lemon, reserve the zest for use on the pork and as garnish
• Juice of ½ a grapefruit (about ½ a cup), reserve the zest for use on the pork and as garnish, optional
• 1 or 2 sprigs of thyme
• Pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Set up sous vide immersion circulator and preheat water to desired final cooking temperature–In this case, I set it to 129°F for medium-rare. (Searing the pork at the final stage brought it closer to the medium by the end.)
2. Preheat the oven to 375°F
3. Prepare the Pork. Place the pork tenderloin in a heavy-duty, food-grade zipper bag. Season with the white pepper, ginger, onion powder, and salt, as well as a pinch of citrus zest if using. Drizzle with a little olive oil and add in the sprigs of thyme. Seal the bag using a vacuum sealer or via the water displacement method. Cook for 1 hour.  (Note: To use the water displacement method, zip up the majority of the bag leaving just an inch or open at the end. Lower the bag into the water–as you do so, the water on the outside of the bag will push out the remaining air in the bag. Once the bag is lowered the majority of the way into the water, zip up the remainder of the bag.)
4. Prepare the carrots. Place the sliced carrots in a medium roasting pan – the pan just needs to be big enough to be able to arrange the carrot slices in roughly a single layer. Toss with the a generous pour of olive oil (about 2 tablespoons), apple cider vinegar, the Dijon mustard, the shallots, and generous pinches of salt and pepper. Add the sprigs of thyme. (You can pick the thyme leaves, but I find they tend separate from the sprig on their own while roasting.)
5. Roast the carrots in the oven and roast for about one hour total, stirring after 25 to 30 minutes. I’d recommend checking on them after 45 to 50 minutes to gauge their doneness. They’re ready when a knife or fork inserted into them slides in with little resistance, but you can let them go longer if you prefer them softer and/or more caramelization.
6. Make the gastrique while the pork and carrots are cooking. Stir together the sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium to medium-high heat. Bring to a boil and cook until the mixture turns deep caramel to amber (about 6 to 8 minutes), gently swirling or stirring occasionally to make sure the sugar is fully incorporated. (Don’t stray too far away, once the color begins to turn, it darkens quickly.) Reduce the heat, and mix in the citrus juices to the caramel – be careful and stand back just in case the mixture spits and splatters. Add the thyme sprigs and a pinch of salt, and allow the mixture to continue to reduce for a few minutes until it reaches a syrupy consistency. If the mixture becomes too thick, add a little more water or juice to loosen it up again. Keep warm until ready to serve.
7. Once the carrots have cooked to the desired level, pour just enough gastrique on top to lightly glaze them once tossed, then set the rest aside again and keep warm. Toss the kale on top and place it all back in the oven for a couple of more minutes while the kale wilts. Toss and taste, and keep warm until ready to serve.
8. Finish the pork. Remove the pork tenderloin from the bag and pat dry with paper towels. Heat a small amount of olive oil (or cooking oil of your choice) in a large pan over high heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add the pork and sear until golden brown on all sides. Transfer the pork to a cutting board. Brush the tenderloin with a little gastrique and slice.
9. Toss the carrots and kale with blue cheese crumbles just before serving. Serve the pork sliced on a bed of the vegetables, with a little gastrique spooned on top or on the plate, and the rest of the gastrique on the side. Garnish with extra citrus zest if desired.
   

https://www.sommstable.com/2021/04/domaine-huet-vouvray-clos-du-bourg-and-pork-loin.html

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This month, join the French Winophiles hosted by Gwedolyn of Wine Predator, as we explore organic Loire:

Additional Reading and Sources:

• Winefolly.com
  
• JancisRobinson.com
  
• Wine-Searcher.com
• Meet the Natural Wine Rebels Transforming France’s Loire Valley
  
• Why is the Loire Valley the cradle of France's natural wine movement?