Bodegas: Miguel M Gómez SA

Don José Esteban Gómez y Gómez was born in Almendro (Huelva) and founded this once well-known firm in Cádiz in 1816. It was one of only three Sherry bodegas in the city, along with Abárzuza and Lacave, and the only one to hold a Royal Warrant from King Alfonso XIII.

Don José married María Luisa Aramburu Fernández who came from a banking family in Cádiz and was a grandniece of the bodeguero and benefactor Manuel Moreno de Mora of El Puerto de Santa María. They had nine children, three of whom married into other Sherry families. Always in family hands the firm also owned vineyard near Jerez, though it was latterly sold off.

In 1969 the firm needed to move its old soleras to modern installations in the Avenida de la Libertad, 15 not far from the Campo de Guia area of El Puerto de Santa María. This was due to a change in the DO regulations in that year which excluded Cádiz from the Sherry production zone.

In 1999 they moved again, to old, early XIX century bodegas at Calle Los Moros, 3 in the heart of the Campo de Guia. These bodegas were of the classic design of the day, with two 1,000 square metre main warehouses and a gardened patio between them.

The firm limped through the hard times after the 1970s and was finally dissolved in 1999, though the wine was available for a while longer. The bodegas, however, were restored and are now used as a venue for celebrations called Bodega Alameda in recognition of the firm’s well regarded Fino.

Main brands: Amontillado Fino Cádiz, Amontillado Viejo and Oloroso Hércules, Fino Alameda, Fino Arillo, Palo Cortado Gómez and the prize-winning yet strangely named Amontillado Fino Volapuk (Volapuk is/was an artificial language like Esperanto)