Williams & Humbert Don Guido PX VOS

Don Guido PX VOS comes from Williams & Humbert in the sherry triangle between Jerez de la Frontera, El Puerto de Santa Maria and Sanlucar de Barrameda, where the chalky albariza soils hold winter rain and feed the vines through the long dry summer. The Pedro Ximenez grapes are laid out in the sun to dehydrate, concentrating the sugars before a slow pressing yields an intensely sweet must. The carry of the VOS designation marks an average age of twenty years, achieved through the criaderas and soleras system, where younger wine is fractionally blended into older across stacked casks. That long oxidative ageing under controlled cask exchange darkens the wine to black mahogany and builds layers of dried fruit and roasted character, while the high sugar gives it a dense, viscous body. The nose is raisin, fig and date over molasses, with toasted coffee and dark chocolate from the years in oak. The palate is thick and sweet, balanced by a faintly bitter coffee edge on the long finish. Serve lightly chilled in a small glass after dinner, pouring it over vanilla ice cream or alongside a piece of dark chocolate or Stilton.