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Botella de Cruz Conde Vermut Colección 1902, etiqueta negra con leyendas doradas y sello Guía Peñín 90 puntos
Rojo

Montilla

Bodegas Cruz Conde

Red · Reserve · Medium-sweet

Cruz Conde Vermouth Rojo Reserva 1902

Bodegas Cruz Conde

Montilla , España

7.4 /10

Vermutpedia Score: 7.4/10

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Overall impression

Vermouth Rojo Reserva Cruz Conde 1902 is the flagship reference of the 1902 range of Bodegas Cruz Conde in Montilla (Córdoba), within DO Montilla-Moriles. According to the official sheet at bodegascruzconde.es, it is a reserve red vermouth built from the bodega's Oloroso wine — 100% Pedro Ximénez grape — aged through the traditional solera and criadera system in centenary American oak butts before maceration with a combination of herbs and spices where gentian predominates. Fifteen degrees alcohol, 750 ml bottle. The house presents it as a traditional, subtle and pleasant aperitif, intense in aromas and balanced on the palate thanks to the wine that composes it and prolonged contact with wood. It forms part of a universe of 1902 fortified wines — fino, PX, cream — sharing the firm's centenary underground bodega. For Vermutpedia, it is the Andalusian reserve vermouth par excellence: PX oloroso base with solera ageing, gentian-led botany, and a profile that transcends commercial vermouth built on neutral white wine.

Nose and palate

The official website describes a vermouth intense in aromas and balanced on the palate, where solera-aged oloroso wine and botanical maceration with predominant gentian add complexity without harshness. PX oloroso brings raisin, fig and dried fruit notes coherent with the house's Montillano fortified profile; contact with centenary American oak butts adds woody regusto and depth. On the palate, the house highlights balance, subtlety and pleasantness, with well-integrated acidity and bitterness — terms shared with the artisan tap vermouth but here elevated by base wine ageing. Texture is velvety, with a long finish coherent with a reserve vermouth intended for both glass and cocktail. Gentian structures bitterness without dominating oloroso residual sweetness. The result is a generous Andalusian vermouth, deeper than the tap artisan, verifiable in tasting notes published at 1902.htm and vermo.htm without asserting specific ageing years not detailed on the official sheet.

How to serve it

Bodegas Cruz Conde recommends serving it with ice in an on-the-rocks glass or combined in cocktails. Moderate temperature — between 10 and 12 °C in the reserve vermouth line — allows appreciation of oloroso complexity without extreme cold cancelling dried fruit and wood notes. Works as a solo aperitif with orange twist, or as a modifier in combinations requiring a rosso with generous soul. Pairs with cured cheeses, ibérico charcuterie, foie, dried fruit and moderately sweet desserts, in the gastronomic line of PX and cream wines from the same 1902 range. Can also accompany dark chocolate or vanilla ice cream, pairings the house suggests for PX 1902 and coherent with the reserve vermouth profile. 75 cl bottle, acquisition at bodegascruzconde.es and bodega channels. For anyone seeking Andalusian vermouth with real solera ageing, the 1902 is Cruz Conde's documented reference.

Production context

Bodegas Cruz Conde makes Vermouth Rojo Reserva 1902 in Montilla, in a centenary underground bodega with solera and criadera system in American oak butts. The official sheet confirms: reserve red vermouth, 100% Pedro Ximénez grape, base of solera-aged Oloroso wine, subsequent maceration with herbs and spices with gentian predominating, 15% vol., 750 ml. The 1902 range includes fino, PX, cream and this reserve vermouth, all with Pedro Ximénez and oxidative or biological ageing according to style. Vermouth production starts from oloroso already aged in butts before botanical aromatisation, unlike the tap artisan that macerates oloroso without the same reserve hierarchy. For Vermutpedia, the 1902 embodies Spanish reserve vermouth with generous bodega soul: Montillano PX, verified solera, gentian as main herb, and a velvety profile documented on the official Bodegas Cruz Conde website.

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