Sandalford Sandalera Rare Liqueur Pedro Ximénez
Wonderful fruit concentration and nutty rancio flavours with a velvety and indulgent mouthfeel lending to a long, sustained finish.
Winemaker comments
Winemaker Notes
Made from Pedro Ximénez, this wine is known for its deep mahogany colour and rich, sweet flavour profile. The grapes are left to ripen on the vine, concentrating their sugars and flavours, before they are harvested. The extended ripening enables the fruit to acquire the elevated sugar levels and concentration required to craft this luscious fortified wine style. Once the wine is made, it is then transferred to old oak barrels and given extended maturation to build richness and complexity before being incorporated in the final blend.
Meet the maker
By the time I turned 18, I had become fascinated with wine. I was keen to learn as much about wine as I could and I received some great advice: to work in the industry before committing to any tertiary study....
Continue Reading > I was lucky enough to get my start at the cellars at Houghton Wines, here in the Swan Valley. I loved it, and it was the beginning of a career which was to eventually see me spend 20 years with Houghton’s. But first, I wanted to discover what traditional winemaking was like in the northern hemisphere. I took myself off to Burgundy, France, where I worked several vintages learning as much as I could about the craft of winemaking from some the best in the business. Returning to Australia I continued my career, picking up a few awards in the process of learning more and more about winemaking and achieving Bachelor of Applied Science and Oenology at Charles Sturt University, NSW. I was awarded the inaugural Gourmet Traveler Young Winemaker of the Year 2001, James Halliday’s Winemaker of the year in 2009, Winemaker of the Year in Ray Jordan's 2017 Annual West Australian Wine Guide, and I’ve judged extensively at capital city and regional wine shows. Australia makes some amazing world class wines! I’ve been fortunate to be Senior Winemaker at Sandalford Wines since March 2021 and I’m delighted every day by our estates’ old vines, the passion of the viticulture team here, and the outcomes we are able to achieve each vintage.
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Continue Reading > I was lucky enough to get my start at the cellars at Houghton Wines, here in the Swan Valley. I loved it, and it was the beginning of a career which was to eventually see me spend 20 years with Houghton’s. But first, I wanted to discover what traditional winemaking was like in the northern hemisphere. I took myself off to Burgundy, France, where I worked several vintages learning as much as I could about the craft of winemaking from some the best in the business. Returning to Australia I continued my career, picking up a few awards in the process of learning more and more about winemaking and achieving Bachelor of Applied Science and Oenology at Charles Sturt University, NSW. I was awarded the inaugural Gourmet Traveler Young Winemaker of the Year 2001, James Halliday’s Winemaker of the year in 2009, Winemaker of the Year in Ray Jordan's 2017 Annual West Australian Wine Guide, and I’ve judged extensively at capital city and regional wine shows. Australia makes some amazing world class wines! I’ve been fortunate to be Senior Winemaker at Sandalford Wines since March 2021 and I’m delighted every day by our estates’ old vines, the passion of the viticulture team here, and the outcomes we are able to achieve each vintage.
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Tasting notes
Varietals
Varietal
Pedro Ximénez
Colour
Other Notes
Deep amber with sepia tones.
Nose
Production
Notes of raisins, dried fig, caramel, butterscotch, toffee and rancio nuttiness.
Palate
Tasting Note
Wonderful fruit concentration and nutty rancio flavours with a velvety and indulgent mouthfeel lending to a long, sustained finish.
Vintage Conditions
Vineyard Notes
The first vines that came to Western Australia were collected by settlers as cuttings from the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa in the early 1830s. The vines excel on the rich alluvial soils of the Swan Valley with its warm Mediterranean climate. Pedro Ximénez is a grape variety that has been grown and made in Spain for centuries. The wine styles that are produced vary from dry sherry wines to luscious, aged fortified styles. The Sandalera Rare Liqueur falls into the latter category. The average age of our blend is approximately 30 years, dating back to the mid 1950’s (the ‘RARE’ classification is applied to wines with a minimum age of 20 years).
Sandalford Sandalera Rare Liqueur Pedro Ximénez
