La Bodega
Heritage
The wine that slept beneath the house
- Where
- Calle Medina, Cabezas del Pozo, facing La Botica
- Type
- Traditional wine cellar dug beneath a house · private property
- What to see
- Two zarceras, one of brick and one of stone · wooden cart wheels with iron rims · adobe façade
- How it worked
- Constant underground temperature, with natural ventilation through the zarceras
- Status
- In ruins and disused
- Visiting
- Exterior only, from the street
Walking into Calle Medina, at ground level, two small openings peek out: one with a brick arch, the other of whitewashed stone. Resting on top of them are two old cart wheels, wood with iron rims, leaning against an adobe façade where the fallen render reveals the clay of this land. They look like decoration, but these openings are the zarceras, the vents of a wine cellar dug beneath the house.
How the cellars of this area were built
They were dug by hand into the earth, taking away rather than building up. Through a low door of thick wood, a staircase went down a passage with adobe or stone walls — the cañón — to the naves: long, vaulted galleries where the wine barrels were lined up. Some had their own press room, with a large beam press, and a chute through which grapes were poured in straight from the street.
The secret of the cold
Underground, temperature and humidity barely change all year round. Cool air came in through the door, went down the stairs and pushed out the warm air, which escaped through the zarceras. That way, without any machines, the wine stayed cool both in the July heat and the January frosts.
Picture the grape harvest: carts loaded with grapes arriving at the door, perhaps with these very wheels, and the smell of must rising up through the zarceras. Today the cellar sleeps in silence, but its vents are still open to the street, as if still waiting for the next harvest. It is a private house in ruins: enjoy it from the street. Don't go near the zarceras.
Practical information
- Address:
- Calle Medina