Wine Grapes: Pedro Ximénez

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.

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.

PX is used for Sherry, Málaga virgen and Montilla-Moriles dessert wine. It 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.