Although it is a large bodega - as well as being the oldest in Jerez, dating from 1730 - this is smaller than Tio Pepe, and consequently the tour feels more personal. Also located in the city centre, it features a 16th-century former convent whose cloisters and orange-tree-lined patio are now used for events. There is also a garden from 1823.
Originally established by an Irishman, Patrick Murphy, in 1725, and subsequently inherited by the French Domecq family, Pedro Domecq is now part of the Allied Domecq group. The famous Don Jose Ignacio Domecq, who died in 1997, known as 'El Nariz' (The Nose) for his amazing sense of smell, was the acknowledged king of sherry tasters.
On the tour of the five main buildings, you will see a building with distinctive horseshoe-shaped arches based on the Mezquita in Cordoba, and named after it; a glass-ended barrel showing the flor (yeast); and signed barrels include one by General Franco himself. One of its brandies, and the oldest in Spain, Fundador, was Ernest Hemingway's preferred tipple when in Spain, while its most famous sherry is La Ina. Harveys is now owned by Pedro Domecq, but has its own bodega.
The bodega also puts on horse shows - Jerez has a long and rich equestrian tradition.
Calle San Ildefonso 3. Tel 956 151 500
Daily tours from 10am.
For more information on sherry click here.
