Our History
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 been producing in Montilla since 1902, in the heart of the D.O.P. Montilla-Moriles.
Family
Bodegas Cruz Conde is a family business that has kept the winemaking tradition alive in Montilla since 1902.
Craft
Wine and distilling live side by side under one roof, with traditional methods.
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 founds the winery in Montilla. So begins the story of Bodegas Cruz Conde, a family winery devoted ever since to producing and ageing wines.
Siglo XX · Distillery
La Cordobesa
Alongside the wine, our own distillery, La Cordobesa, is born. Its copper stills, dating from the first half of the 20th century, still use traditional methods to distil the house brandy and liqueurs.
1925 · Suppliers to the Royal Household
In 1925, during the reign of Alfonso XIII, the winery became a purveyor to the Spanish Royal Household, a distinction that forms part of the history of Bodegas Cruz Conde.
1924-1930 · Julio Romero de Torres
The Cordoban painter Julio Romero de Torres creates advertisements for the house's wines and the labels for Anís La Cordobesa, which still form part of the Bodegas Cruz Conde identity today.
A family tradition that lives on today
Today, the story of Bodegas Cruz Conde lives on in Montilla. Six vaulted cellars watch over the ageing of our wines across a 14,000 m² site, home to El Sótano, the only underground cellar in the Montilla-Moriles PDO. Here, our Montilla-Moriles PDO wines, our own creations and the La Cordobesa Distillery exist side by side. It is a family winery that keeps to the same unhurried pace it always has.
Julio Romero de Torres and the Bodegas Cruz Conde
Bodegas Cruz Conde commissioned Julio Romero de Torres to create the brand's image. Between 1924 and 1930, the painter, who also worked as a poster artist for other companies of his day, produced advertisements for the house's wines and the labels for Anís La Cordobesa.
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 established as his canon of beauty the sun-weathered woman, close to the peasant and the working woman.
The model for the painting "Bodegas Cruz Conde" was María Teresa López González, who also sat for "La chiquita piconera" and "La Fuensanta", two of the painter's best-known works. Those images are an essential part of the history of Bodegas Cruz Conde, where wine meets the art and culture of Córdoba.
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. Explore the house's range of wines and spirits.