A tabanco with a sommelier behind the bar
Gorrión Wine Bar is on Calle Fabio Rufino in El Pópulo, just through the Arco del Pópulo, and it is the place to go in Cádiz when you want to drink wine on purpose rather than as an afterthought to the fried fish. It is led by the sommelier Jonatan Cantero, who has run it since December 2023, and it took the Solera 2024 award for best wine bar in the province of Cádiz, presented in Jerez in December 2025.
The model is a tabanco, the old Andalusian tavern, updated with some refinement. The name is the giveaway: a gorrión is the type of glass used in Sanlúcar de Barrameda to drink manzanilla.
What is in the glass
The wine list runs to over 300 references, and there are six taps whose contents rotate, so what you drink this week may not be on next month. Sherry is on the list, but this is primarily a place for an overall wine selection, with a particular push for bottles from the province. Bottles can be bought to take away.
What to eat with it
The food follows the old abacería, the grocer's shop where things were served in brown paper: cured meats, salted fish, cheeses and premium tinned fish, plus sandwiches and pinchos. Two local staples to try are Payoyo cheese and mojama, the dried salted tuna that connects the bar to the atún de almadraba tradition, served with warm bread.
Where to sit and when to go
You can take one of the barrel tables with stools in the alleyway or the bright space inside. Opening hours are not confirmed here, so check the bar's current hours before walking over. If you are working through the old town's wine addresses, Listán Wine Tasca makes a natural second stop, and the Roman theatre is a short walk away in the same barrio.