Nuestra historia
History of Bodegas Cruz Conde, a Family Winery in Montilla
The history of Bodegas Cruz Conde is that of a Montilla family devoted to wine and distilling. Discover how our winery began and how it has endured to this day.
Cruz Conde Statement
We believe that good wine is born of the land and perfected with patience.
Nuestros valores
Terroir
We have tilled the same Montilla soil since 1902, respecting the rhythm of the chalky albariza land.
Family
Generación tras generación, la familia Cruz Conde ha mantenido vivo el oficio bodeguero en Montilla, transmitiendo de padres a hijos el saber hacer de la bodega.
Craft
Wine and distillery live side by side under one roof, using the same traditional, artisanal methods as ever.
The history of Bodegas Cruz Conde began in Montilla and has been written into every corner of our family winery. Each corner tells a different part of the same story: the land that sustains it, the art that recounted it and the stone that preserves it beneath Montilla.
Our Story: The History of Bodegas Cruz Conde Since 1902
1902 · The Origins
Rafael Cruz Conde founded the winery in the very heart of Montilla's old town, with the aim of producing and maturing the finest wines in the region. This marks the beginning of the history of Bodegas Cruz Conde, a family winery that has worked with grapes from the land and patient maturation ever since.
The 1920s · Distillery
La Cordobesa
Alongside the wine, the distillery was born. Its copper stills, in use ever since, produce the brandy and liqueurs of the house. La Cordobesa completed the winery and turned Cruz Conde into a house that produces both wines and spirits.
1925 · Suppliers to the Royal Household
A recognition that has endured since the 1920s. The winery was a supplier to the Royal Household, a distinction that vouches for the quality of its wines and spirits and remains part of Bodegas Cruz Conde's identity to this day.
1930 · The Link with Julio Romero de Torres
The Cordoban painter Julio Romero de Torres, a friend of the founder, created the house's posters and gave La Cordobesa, the distillery that still bears his signature today, its image.
Una tradición familiar que continúa hoy
Today, the history of Bodegas Cruz Conde remains alive under the same roof. Six vaulted-ceilinged halls and 3,000 casks safeguard the maturation of our wines, across more than 14,000 m², beneath the same ground since 1902. There, D.O. Montilla-Moriles wines live alongside our own creations and the La Cordobesa distillery. It is a family winery that keeps to its same unhurried pace and the same understanding of wine.
Julio Romero de Torres and the Bodegas Cruz Conde Posters
The winery's founder asked his friend Julio Romero de Torres to give the brand an image. The painter, who also worked as a poster artist for other companies of his time, created a series of posters for the house, including those advertising Anís La Cordobesa and Fino Cruz Conde.
To symbolise the house, he chose a woman with Moorish features: large dark eyes, an intense gaze, olive skin and dark hair. In contrast to the fragile, Caucasian-featured ideal of the belle époque, Romero de Torres set as his canon of beauty the sun-weathered woman, close in spirit to the peasant girl and the working woman.
The model who posed for it was Dolores Castro Ruiz, known artistically as Dora la Cordobesita, the most famous cuplé singer of the day. Those images form an essential part of the history of Bodegas Cruz Conde, where wine meets Córdoba's art and culture.
From that land of 1902 comes our range of wines, creations and distillery products today.
Now that you know the history of Bodegas Cruz Conde, we invite you to discover our wines and see the underground winery in person. Check out our tours or explore the house's range of wines and spirits.