Córdoba & Montilla Moriles Wine Tour

We love exotic Córdoba. Visiting the Mezquita is a trip back in time. The flower-filled Córdoba patios are recognized by Unesco as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. And the wines of Montilla-Moriles, sherry like but different from their cousins down the road in Jerez, are a revelation. End your time in Córdoba with dinner at three Michelin star Noor restaurant, which pays homage to the Córdoba a centuries past.

Trip At A Glance

4 Days / 3 nights

Córdoba – 3 days  with a day trip to Montilla-Moriles wine region

Day 1 – Córdoba

Arrive in Córdoba and visit the Mequita and the former Jewish quarter. You’ll get introduced to the cuisine of Córdoba in a wine-pairing taberna tour dinner.

Day 2 – Montilla-Moriles Wine Tour

Journey to the Montilla-Moriles wine region to taste historic sherry style wines and also visit a pioneering winery producing fine white wines, competing on the world stage.

Day 3 – Córdoba

Córdoba produces some of the best olive oils in Spain and you’ll taste a few guided by a local olive oil expert. The charm of Córdoba can be found in the cordobeses, of courses, but visually in the traditional patios. Visit some and have lunch in a traditional eatery. Dinner at Noor–a surprising three Michelin star restaurant.

Day 1 – Córdoba History & Tabernas

  • Córdoba Jewish Quarter & Mezquita tour

  • Córdoba tabernas tour dinner

  • Overnight Córdoba

Córdoba

In the center of Andalucia, the one-time Moorish capital of Córdoba is a real hidden gem. Best known for La Mezquita–its mosque turned cathedral–and the surrounding former Jewish quarter, the city offers more than meets the eye. The traditional tabernas are temples to classic Andalusian food, highlighting dishes like gazpacho’s cousin salmorejo, stewed oxtail, vegetable pisto with a fried egg, and a galaxy of delicious tapas. Córdoba is home to Noor, a one of a kind two Michelin star restaurant where chef Paco Morales unearths and reinterprets the cuisine of Al Andalus, the Moorish empire that once reigned in Andalusia.

The countryside outside of town is rich in superb products. Some of Spain’s best olive oil is made near the city, and its influence on the cuisine here is strong. The Montilla Moriles wine region, where the local Pedro Ximenez grape grows in chalky white Albariza soils is outside of town. The wines are both dry and sweet, sherry-style, but the wineries there are also revolutionizing the winemaking and bringing out dry, non-sherry-style white wines.

Córdoba has a rich cuisine that harkens back to its Moorish history, and the city’s tabernas, traditional tapas bars characterized by dark wood and cozy interiors, are the perfect places to discover it. Classic dishes of the city include salmorejo, a cold tomato soup thickened with bread and egg that is the local version of gazpacho, and rabo de toro, stewed oxtail. You can belly up to the bar and wash these and other delicious plates down with local Montilla Moriles wine as the locals do, or sit in one of Córdoba’s atmospheric plazas and enjoy the southern sun.

Córdoba Jewish Quarter & Mezquita Tour

Join your local expert guide on a guided tour of Córdoba’s Judería, the historic Jewish quarter of the city’s old town. This medieval neighborhood near the Mezquita was once home to the city’s substantial Jewish population. Today you’ll find Jewish heritage sites, including one of Spain’s best preserved synagogues and the monument to Maimonides, the influential rabbi and doctor who was born in Córdoba.

Córdoba was once the most populous city in the world, the intellectual center of Europe, and the capital of an Islamic caliphate. Your private walking tour of Córdoba’s old city will include the 8th-century grand mosque built when Córdoba was the capital of Al-Andalus, the Moorish empire in Spain. After the reconquest of the city by the Christians, the mosque was converted into a cathedral, but the architecture of the original mosque was thankfully preserved. Walking through the ornately decorated halls, you can feel the weight of Moorish history in Córdoba. The Mezquita is one of Spain’s greatest surviving monuments from the Moorish occupation.

Córdoba Tabernas Tour Dinner

Join up with our friend and local food and wine expert Isabel at dinnertime for a deep dive into the cuisine and products of Córdoba. Explore the traditional tabernas of the city, where the best regional  dishes are on the menu. Your guide on this journey will pair surprising local wines with the plates, showing the richness of Córdoba’s cooking and the great potential of its wines.

Day 2 – Montilla-Moriles

  • Transfer from Córdoba to Montilla-Moriles wine country

  • Lagar de la Salud winery visit

  • Alvear winery visit

  • Lunch at Taberna Bolero in Montilla

  • Transfer back to Córdoba

Montilla-Moriles

South of the city of Córdoba, Montilla-Moriles is Andalusia’s secret wine region. Here wines of similar style to sherry are produced from vineyards planted on the slopes of the picturesque countryside. The local Pedro Ximenez grape is best known for its ability to produce black-colored long-aged sweet wines, but it’s also used to make styles of wine more associated with Jerez like fino, amontillado, and palo cortado. Its lack of international fame has left Montilla-Moriles with an intact winemaking heritage and a deep stock of very old wines. The area is rich in other products as well, most notably producing some of the best extra virgin olive oils in the world. The perfect step off the beaten path for lovers of fortified wines or simply a sense of adventure, Montilla-Moriles is one of Andalusia’s jewels.

Lagar de la Salud Winery Visit

No one has had more of an impact on the new styles of wine in Montilla-Moriles than Fátima Ceballos. After working in France, she returned to the area south of Córdoba attracted by the possibilities of the terroir here and the chance to have her own winery: Lagar de la Salud. In just a few years she and her partner have established the wines from their property among the most exciting in all of Andalusia. Using barrel fermentation and aging on the lees, the Dulas white wines are fine whites that can compete with the best that Spain has to offer. In a region of sherry-style wines and long aging, these wines were revolutionary. Fátima has consulted with other producers to help them make aged white wines that express soil more than aging. More surprising still, Lagar de la Salud produces two exceptional reds from Cabernet Sauvignon! In a region where summer temperatures can reach 110º, Bordeaux's star grape might seem unlikely to produce great wines, but careful vineyard work and subtle winemaking has allowed the red Dulas wines to excel. Lagar de la Salud appears to be the most exciting producer for the future of wine in Montilla-Moriles.

Alvear Winery Visit

The oldest winery in Montilla-Moriles (allegedly the third-oldest in Spain), Alvear has a long and aristocratic history of making fine wine. Founded in 1729, the winery remains owned and run by the Alvear family. The name Alvear became associated with massive wealth and power, both in Montilla (seemingly half the buildings in town were owned or built by the family) as well as halfway around the world in Argentina, where the Alvear name adorns plazas and avenues due to their stature there. And it all began with the fine wines made south of Córdoba.

Stepping inside Alvear’s winery takes you to another world. The sprawling complex of gardens, patios, and winery buildings right in the center of Montilla is a world. The old bodega where the finest wines age is dimly lit, quiet and humid, filled with the scent of flor yeast. Alvear makes and bottles some of the finest and oldest wines from Montilla-Moriles, in some cases descended from wines laid down at the foundation of the winery nearly 300 years ago.

Every style of wine at Alvear is elite, but there are two types of wines for which the house is particularly renowned. The first are the special bottlings in small bottles adorned with tan labels. These are the iconic dry wines from the best soleras, from impeccable old fino to rare old amontillado and palo cortado. They’re wines that are sought after by wine enthusiasts wherever they are to be found for their unique and elegant character and very limited production. This being Pedro Ximenez country, Alvear is also known for their sweet wines made from this local grape. Old soleras of black, thick sweet PX produce limited bottlings of old wines, but Alvear also makes a vintage PX that’s lighter in texture but deeply complex, and this last style won the winery its first perfect Wine Advocate score.

There are few wineries in Spain that seem to be able to do no wrong, never producing a mediocre wine, but Alvear not only meets this standard, but they have been doing so longer than almost anyone. A mandatory stop in Montilla-Moriles.

Lunch at Taberna Bolero

Taberna Bolero lies in the heart of wine town Montilla. It’s a cozy space, traditional yet elegant, and the cuisine strikes the same balance. You’ll find the classics of Cordoban cuisine on the menu, but with a focus on creatively updating the dishes to bring out their essence. Taberna Bolero also specializes in fish and seafood, brought fresh from the Andalusian coast, that pairs very well with Montilla-Moriles wines. You’ll find an extensive list of local wines here, from fresh young whites to long-aged dry and sweet wines.

Transfer back to Córdoba.

Day 3 – Olive Oil, Patios & Michelin Stars

  • Córdoba patios tour, olive oil tasting & lunch

  • Dinner at Noor

  • Overnight Córdoba

Córdoba Patios Tour, Olive Oil Tasting & Lunch

Visit traditional flower-filled Córdoba patios which are recognized by Unesco as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Their origins date back to the Romans and many traditional cordobés houses have conserved them in a traditional state. After seeing the patios, your guide, who is an olive oil expert, will guide you through a tasting of Cordoban olive oil before lunch. Your tour will culminate with lunch at El Patio de María, an excellent local restaurant serving updated Córdoba cuisine and located in an award-winning patio.

Dinner at Noor

Enjoy dinner at three-Michelin star Noor Restaurant in Córdoba. Noor (noor means light in Arabic) is most of all a connection to the past. Hidden away from the center, this small restaurant works like a time machine back to the days of the Moorish occupation of Al-Andalus. Chef Paco Morales, a Córdoba native with experience at El Bulli and Mugaritz restaurants in Spain, brings the dishes that defined different historical periods of Córdoban and Andalusian cuisine into the present. Each “season” of the restaurant is dedicated to a different era. The unique flavors of these forgotten dishes, which fuse Spanish and Moorish influences and ingredients, are one of a kind. The service, atmosphere, and impeccable preparation combine with the unique concept to make Noor an essential visit for any curious food lover traveling to Spain.

Córdoba & Montilla Moriles Wine Tour

Trip Information

Hotel

Córdoba - 3 nights

Palacio del Bailío - On a quiet street on the edge of Córdoba’s old town, the Palacio del Bailío is a world apart. Walk through the leafy entryway and you’re in a sprawling world of whitewashed walls and atmospheric patios. The building was an artistocratic palace, but its history, visible to this day, goes back to Roman times. The palace has been redone with care, yielding rooms that retain historic character while incorporating modern luxury. The public areas of the hotel are extensive and enchanting, from the outdoor pool in one of the patios to the bar’s terrace and the spa that’s included for all guests. For a night in, the surprising fusion restaurant Arbequina offers new flavors in a relaxing environment.

Trip Includes

  • 3 nights hotel, double occupancy

  • breakfast daily in the hotels

  • expert private guides

  • private premium tours and tastings at wineries

  • 2 lunches with wine

  • tabernas tour dinner with wine

  • restaurant reservations and recommendations

  • private transport for all wine tours

  • full trip planning

  • in-country trip assistance and on-the-ground support

  • Epicurean Ways expertise

Not Included

  • flights to/from Spain and flights within Spain

  • tips to guides and drivers (optional but appreciated)

  • travel insurance (recommended)

  • extra charges in hotels (minibar, room service, etc)

A note on winery visits, restaurant selections and hotels

All tours, experiences and hotels are subject to availability and will be confirmed upon booking the trip.

You will be accompanied by a driver-guide during your wine touring. Your visits and tastings will be private and with the winemaker, a family member or an expert who knows the winery and the wines well. We work with the wineries to make sure that you taste the best and most representative wines during each visit. It is sometimes possible to arrange extended tastings that include old vintages or rare wines. We have an extensive group of wineries whose owners we know and with whom we work regularly, so we can guarantee high-level visits even if a winery has to be substituted. If you have an interest in visiting a particular producer please let us know.

We include restaurant concierge service as part of your trip. Note that our restaurant suggestions are just that–suggestions. Places we love, places to go back to time after time. We recommend these places after years of experience eating in Spain and Portugal together with frequent research and input from our local partners. We aspire to guide your choices with information on the styles of cuisine and restaurants; the choice on where to eat is yours based on your preferences and desires. Note that the cost of the lunches/dinners is not included unless specified under the included items. Normally your included meals are with a guide while touring or tapas tours or wine-tasting meals.

We have included hotel options ranging from 5-star luxury properties to small boutique hotels. Let us know your preferences and we will tailor the hotel choices for you.

Trip Prices

Note that we can customize this trip for you. Add days in your arrival or departure city or in other locations or make changes to the experiences, winery visits, restaurants, or hotels included in the trip. Whatever it is, we’re here to work with you. Once you’re happy with the trip plan and have some idea of your dates we will calculate and send you the price.