Hidalgo Triana Pedro Ximénez NV Jerez, Spain 50cl

Bodegas Hidalgo, the family house behind La Gitana, was founded in 1792 in Sanlúcar de Barrameda and is still run by the family today. Unusually for the sherry region, it owns all of its own vineyards, including prized parcels in the chalk-rich Miraflores and Balbaína pagos.

Triana is the bodega’s Pedro Ximénez, made entirely from that single grape. The bunches are laid out on mats to dry in the Andalusian sun, so the sugars concentrate and the berries shrivel almost to raisins. They are then pressed, fermented and aged for years in soleras of old American oak, the traditional route to a wine this dark and rich.

As a solera wine it carries no single vintage. Each bottling is drawn from a blend of many years, the younger wine refreshing the old, which keeps the house style consistent and deeply mellow.

The colour is dark mahogany, almost black at the core. The nose is all raisins, figs, dates and treacle, with a warm, roasted-nut edge. On the palate it is thick and lusciously sweet, coating the mouth with dried fruit and molasses before a long, gently spiced finish that lingers well after the glass is down.

This is a classic after-dinner sweet wine. Serve it lightly chilled, poured over vanilla ice cream, alongside dark chocolate desserts or a wedge of blue cheese, or simply on its own as the evening winds down. The 50cl bottle and intense sweetness mean a little goes a long way, and an opened bottle will keep happily for weeks.