Pedro Ximénez (also known as PX and many other variations; Andalusian pronunciation ) is a white Spanish wine grape variety grown in several Spanish wine regions, most notably the (DO) of Montilla-Moriles. Here it is used to produce a varietal wine, an intensely sweet, dark, dessert sherry. It is made by drying the grapes under the hot sun, concentrating the sweetness (similar to straw wine production), 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.
Also, Pedro Ximénez is grown in Australia to make fortified wines and sherry type wines known by the Australian term - Apera. It is often used for blending and to make botrytised dessert wines. This grape variety has thrived in Western Australia's Swan Valley since its introduction there due to the hot climate growing conditions. The vine requires a rich soil and short pruning. James Busby brought some Pedro Ximénez to Australia in 1832. Some were imported from Jerez and planted at Clarendon; a transfer from the Sydney Botanic Garden is recorded in around 1839.
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.
History
left|thumb|The Andalusia region of southern Spain where Pedro Ximénez probably originated.
There have been several apocryphal legends about the grape's origins. In 1661, the German ampelographer F. J. Sachs speculated that Pedro Ximénez originated in either the Canary Islands or Madeira and was later brought to the German wine regions of the Rheingau, Rheinhessen and eventually the Mosel before either a Spanish soldier named Pedro Ximen or a Catholic Cardinal named Ximenès brought the grape to Málaga and Sierras de Málaga. This theory, which was spread in various incarnations by other German wine writers such as Baron August Wilhelm von Babo and Balthasar Sprenger, also led to speculation that Pedro Ximénez was somehow related to (or possibly even the same grape as) the German wine grapes Elbling and Riesling but DNA evidence in the late 20th and early 21st century has discounted those theories.
Synonyms
right|thumb|Pedro Ximénez wine paired with a Spanish dessert (Tarta de Manzana).
Over the years, Pedro Ximénez has been known under several synonyms including: Alamais, Chirones, Corinto bianco, Don Bueno, Jimenez, Pedro, Himenez, Ximénez, Ximénès, Pedro Jimenez (in Andalusia), Pedro Khimenes, Pedro Ximénès, Pedro Ximenes (in Andalusia), Pedro Ximenez, Pedro Ximenez Bijeli, Pedro Ximenes De Jerez, Pedro Ximenez De Montilla, Pedro Ximinez, Pero Ximen, Perrum (in the Alentejo region of Portugal), Peter Siemens, Pasa Rosada De Malaga, Pierre Ximenes, Uva Pero Ximenez, Uva Pero Ximen, Uva Pero Ximenes, Pero Ximenez, Ximen, Ximenes (in Andalusia), Ximenez, Alamis De Totana, Alamis, Myuskadel, Verdello (in the Canary Islands), Ximenecia, Zalema Colchicina and the abbreviation PX (in Andalucía).