Peréz Barquero, Palo Cortado, P.X. 1955, D.O. Montilla Moriles, sherry, 0,75l Beautiful old oxidised wine, varieties 100% Pedro Ximenez with great elegance, concentration and strength. A really classy, elegant but rounded wine, the kind best enjoyed with a good book in a comfortable chair.

Pérez Barquero was founded in 1905, but began in 1985, in Córdoba, where the Ruz and Gracia families bought this venerable house.

Pérez Barquero is the leading brand behind the winery group that includes Gracia Hermanos, Tomás García and Compañía Vinícola del Sur. The group owns 140 hectares of vineyards in the Sierra de Montilla and Moriles Alto, the two main quality areas of Montilla-Moriles, and 70 hectares in the villages of Santaella and Aguilar de la Frontera, also in Córdoba. High-end vineyards are found on elevated surfaces on white, chalky soils similar to the Sherry Country albariza, which give the wines a strong minerality and salty notes. The grapes for Pérez Barquero's most distinctive wines come from their own vineyards, with less than a third of their needs purchased from other growers.

Although PX (sweet wines made from Pedro Ximénez grapes) is a speciality of the region, Montilla-Moriles makes the same styles as Sherry Country. Gran Barquero, the flagship winery of a range of wines, includes Fino, amontillado Oloroso, PX and the excellent Palo Cortado, which was added recently.