The vermouth encyclopedia

Vermutpedia

Rojo

Montilla

Red · Artisan · Medium-sweet

Cruz Conde Vermouth Artesano Grifo

Bodegas Cruz Conde

Montilla , España

7.4 /10

Vermutpedia Score: 7.4/10

How we calculate the Vermutpedia Score →

Overall impression

Cruz Conde's tap Vermouth Artesano is the hospitality version from the Montilla house, distinct from the 700 ml bottled Selección Especial that the official website makes on aromatised white wine with predominant gentian. The three and five-litre bag-in-box formats — documented at bodegascruzconde.es — are built from the bodega's Oloroso wine in maceration with a selection of herbs and spices, at fifteen degrees alcohol. Bodegas Cruz Conde, in Montilla (Córdoba), within DO Montilla-Moriles, brings to this vermouth the richness of Andalusian fortified wine as base instead of the neutral white wine of many commercial vermouths. The house defines it as artisan Spanish vermouth, very intense and evocative of wine and spices, soft and velvety on the palate, balanced in acidity and bitterness with a very long finish. Oriented to tavern and tap service, it represents Montillano vermouth tradition adapted to volume consumption in hospitality.

Nose and palate

The official sheet for the 3 L and 5 L BIB formats describes a coherent organoleptic profile: on the nose, very intense, aromatic and evocative of oloroso wine and the spices that compose the formula. On the palate, soft and velvety, with herb and spice notes and balsamic sensations. Very well balanced in acidity and bitterness, with a very long finish. The Oloroso base adds depth, dried fruit and wood notes from Montillano fortified wine, while botanical maceration structures bitterness without aggression. The velvety texture — a term the house repeats across all its vermouths — anticipates a round, gastronomic, persistent sip. No additional ageing is declared after maceration in tap formats; character comes from the base oloroso and herb selection. The result is an Andalusian bar vermouth with the personality of a historic bodega, verifiable in identical tasting notes for the three and five-litre formats published on the corporate website.

How to serve it

Cruz Conde orientates this vermouth to tavern consumption: very cold, with ice, orange and salted appetisers, in the line of the Andalusian bar aperitivo. The three or five-litre bag-in-box format is designed for tap service in hospitality, with practical replenishment and volume consumption in venues offering house vermouth. It also works in simple combinations with soda or bitter when a red with Montillano oloroso soul is sought. Pairs with olives, cured cheeses, ibérico charcuterie, dried fruit and Cordoban aperitivo preserves. At moderate strength (15% vol.) and with a long finish, it suits aperitivo sessions without fatiguing the palate. Official information does not propose specific cocktails for the tap format; the focus is traditional on-the-rocks consumption. For bars wanting artisan Andalusian vermouth with a real oloroso base, Cruz Conde tap is a documented option coherent with Montilla-Moriles fortified tradition.

Production context

Bodegas y Destilerías del Sur, S.A. (Cruz Conde) makes Vermouth Artesano in Montilla, Córdoba, in DO Montilla-Moriles. The official website distinguishes two lines: the 700 ml Selección Especial on white wine with predominant gentian, and the 3 L and 5 L BIB formats on Oloroso wine in maceration with herbs and spices — this is the base of the tap product. Fifteen degrees alcohol across all formats. The centenary underground bodega and the house solera system nourish the universe of fortified wines — fino, oloroso, PX, cream — from which the vermouth derives. Vermouth Rojo Reserva 1902, with PX and solera ageing, occupies the top tier of the bottled range. For Vermutpedia, Artesano Grifo represents Montillano tavern vermouth: verified oloroso base, BIB formats for hospitality, velvety balsamic profile documented at bodegascruzconde.es, without claims unsupported by the official bodega sheet.

Discover more

More from Bodegas Cruz Conde

View all (3) →

More from Montilla

Same type and style — Red · Medium-sweet

Country guide

The best Spanish vermouths

More than four hundred Spanish references tasted: the ranking orders the best bottles from each region by Vermutpedia Score, from Reus to the Basque Country.

View España ranking →