Traditional old taverns

Wine, tapas and Cordoba-style idiosyncrasy

• Welcome to a tour of the city’s most iconic taverns and the most representative cuisine and wine of our region. The taverns provide the perfect excuse to alternate strolls through Cordoba at night with strategic stops lasting as long as your glass of wine. At each bar we will sample a different wine with its respective accompaniment, and this will help us appreciate why the finos, amontillados, olorosos, palo cortados and pedro ximénez from the Montilla-Moriles Protected Designation of Origin are unique wines that are prized all over the world. Son las tabernas la excusa perfecta para alternar paseos a la luz de la noche cordobesa con paradas estratégicas que duran lo que dura una copa. En cada establecimiento probaremos un vino diferente con su mejor maridaje y así iremos entendiendo por qué los finos, amontillados, olorosos, palo cortados y PX de la Denominación Montilla-Moriles son vinos únicos y apreciados mundialmente.

Taverns are intrinsically linked to our Mediterranean culture. There are signs that there were taverns in Ancient Egypt and by the time of the Roman Empire the tabernae had become shops, while the ones that served hot food and wine were known as thermopolia. Taverns in Cordoba owe their existence to three elements that are inherent to our culture: wine, bulls and flamenco. The wine comes from the local area, and some taverns store it in their own barrels. The bulls are present in old bullfighting posters, photos of renowned bullfighters (Manolete being the most famous of all) and in the heads of great beasts that fell in combat. And flamenco makes itself felt in the knuckles that rap the tables, in the inscriptions that decorate the walls and in the air itself, resonating to the notes of the music.

These temples of tolerance and friendship in Cordoba lack the show and exuberance found elsewhere; they tend on the contrary to be discreet, understated and enveloped in an air of mystery – a true reflection of the special character Cordoba that we are trying to convey on this tour. On a night of extraordinary aromas and flavours framed by Cordoba’s incomparable Old Town and a moonlit sky the rest is supplied by fine wine, good tapas, eminent personalities and endless stories.