Alvear 3 Miradas Paraje de Río Frio 2021 (750ml) *

Pedro Ximénez is best known for sweet, treacle-dark wines, so a bone-dry rendering makes for a genuine change of pace. This bottling from Alvear, in the Montilla-Moriles region of Andalucia, is made entirely from that grape and vinified as a dry wine, aged first for eight months in 300-liter concrete tinaja and then for a year in old butts under a veil of flor, the living layer of yeast that gives the wine its savory edge. The 2021 comes from the Paraje de Río Frío and belongs to the estate's 3 Miradas range.

The nose is layered and savory rather than sweet, with thyme and chamomile, almond and toasted nuts, and hints of caramel, vermouth and wood. On the palate it turns dry and chalky, delicately nutty, with a poised austerity that keeps everything fresh and precise. The finish leans into toasted hazelnut, and the whole wine trades on finesse rather than weight.