Memories we do not yet know we are creating
A day with my son Teo at Lagar La Primilla and Bodega Rockera Cabriñana
Yesterday my son and I discovered another side of Cordoba.
This time, it was not its monuments, its white streets or the arches of the Mosque. We ventured into the Sierra de Montilla, into the winemaking traditions of the Cordoba countryside.
We visited Lagar La Primilla and Bodega Rockera Cabriñana, two places full of history, work and memories.
Stepping inside was like opening a door to another time.
We saw large wine jars lined up side by side, old barrels and wine casks covered with names, dates, drawings and messages written by people who had been there before us.
Each barrel seemed to hold more than wine.
It held a friendship.
A celebration.
A promise.
A part of someone's life.
We also learned how wine is made and stored, and got to know the people who continue to care for a tradition deeply tied to the land of Cordoba.
While we adults tasted authentic wine from Cordoba, Teo watched, listened and discovered a way of life very different from the one he knows in Japan.
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When tradition finds a new way to speak
At Bodega Cabriñana, something particularly caught my attention.
Their bottles did not have conventional names. They brought together wine, flamenco, music and a very particular attitude.
The labels carried names such as Tinaja Rock, Pedro Ximénez Jazz, Palo Cortado Indie and the Vermut Flamenco collection, with Bulería, Tango and Alegría.
That felt very close to me.
Because, at heart, it also spoke of what I have been trying to do all my life: respect tradition deeply without being afraid to look for new ways to express it.
Culture does not stay alive when it is locked in a display case.
It stays alive when someone receives it, understands it and finds their own way to carry it forward.
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The people who turn a visit into a memory
This day was possible thanks to Pepe and his wife, friends of my sister Rafi; to Rafa and his wife; and to my sister Rafi and my brother-in-law José Manuel, who came with us and welcomed us so warmly.
They did more than show us some wineries.
They told us stories, shared their time with us, made us laugh and let us get closer to a very authentic part of Cordoba.
Thanks to all of them, we spent an unforgettable morning and afternoon.
Once again, I understood that what matters most about a place is not only its buildings, products or landscapes.
It is the people who keep it alive.
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Perhaps Teo does not yet understand this memory
As I watched my son walk among the wine jars and look at the barrels, I thought that perhaps he is not yet fully aware of what he is experiencing.
Teo is 17 years old.
For him, it may have been an interesting outing: a new place, some explanations, some unusual bottles and people who welcomed him warmly.
But I am convinced that one day this memory will come back to him.
Perhaps he will return to Cordoba many years from now.
Perhaps he will return to Montalbán to see the family.
Maybe he will walk into a winery again, see some old wine jars or recognise the smell of that place.
And then he will remember:
“I have been here before, with my father.”
There are memories whose value we understand at the very moment we live them.
Others, though, need years to show us how important they were.
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The seeds we leave as parents
As a father, I do not know which images my children will keep twenty or thirty years from now.
I do not know which conversation, meal, embrace or landscape will suddenly appear in their memory.
But I do know that I want to give them experiences they can hold on to.
I want to bring them closer to their family.
I want to show them their roots.
I want them to understand that behind every tradition there are people, sacrifices, stories and a way of understanding life.
Yesterday Teo learned about more than just the wine of Cordoba.
He met the people who make it.
He learned about a way of caring for the land.
He came to know a part of his father's culture.
And he spent a day with his family that he may not yet know how to explain, but that is already part of his story.
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Another treasure in our box
This trip keeps filling our treasure box.
Yesterday we put into it some old wine jars, barrels full of messages, the flavour of the land of Cordoba, plenty of laughter and a memory whose true value may still be waiting to be discovered.
Sometimes we think we are simply visiting a place.
But without realising it, we are building the place our children will want to return to one day.
And when Teo returns, I hope that a part of him remembers that he once explored that place with his father.
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Words that stay with us
Culture stays alive when someone receives it, understands it and finds their own way to carry it forward.
Without realising it, we are building the place our children will want to return to one day.
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A question to bring back memories
Is there a place whose true value you only understood many years later?
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Related links
AlitaDePollo
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Credits
Text: AlitaDePollo
Photography: Benito García's personal archive · authorised use
Places: Lagar La Primilla; Bodega Rockera Cabriñana, Sierra de Montilla, Cordoba
People mentioned: Teo; Pepe; Rafa and his wife; Rafi; José Manuel
Thanks to: Pepe and his wife; Rafa and his wife; Rafi; José Manuel; and everyone who shared the day with us
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