Fondillón

Fondillón is a type of sweet wine which is made in the province of Alicante using grapes of the Monastrell variety, over-ripened on the vine itself. It’s a mature wine, with more than 10 years of ageing and without any topping up, which means its alcohol content comes exclusively from the natural fermentation of the sugars in the fruit. Ageing is carried out by means of the solera system and the oxidative process, which explains why it bears some relation to the Rancio wines which are produced in other areas of the Mediterranean coastline and with Oloroso Sherries and Cream Sherries from Andalucia. Its name comes from fondo ('back'), alluding to the place where families traditionally used to keep the barrels for maturing this wine, dark spaces reserved especially for the purpose at the back of the cellar. Fondillón is protected by the Vinos Alicante denomination of origin.