Montilla-Moriles lies in the south of Córdoba province, bounded by the Genil and the Guadajoz and closed off to the south by the Subbética hills. The best ground is albariza, the same chalk that Jerez depends on, concentrated in the two higher subzones of Sierra de Montilla and Los Moriles Altos. The difference from the coast is the heat: inland Andalusia is hotter and drier, and the grapes come in riper.

That ripeness changes the winemaking. Pedro Ximénez rather than Palomino is the main grape, and it reaches enough natural alcohol that most wines here need no fortification at all, which is the clearest line between this region and sherry. Everything else is familiar: flor forming under the surface in the barrel, the criaderas and soleras moving wine through tiers over years, and the same family of styles from pale and dry to dark and oxidised. Sun dried Pedro Ximénez also makes the thickest sweet wine in Spain.