Fundador joins the gastronomic capital of Jerez 2026 and brings back Don Pedrito

Under the slogan ‘Twelve ways to savor Jerez’, the oldest winery in the city presents its Gastronomic Year: a tribute to the land through a program that will combine cuisine, culture, music and leisure.

The historic figure of Don Pedrito returns as a symbol of its legacy to narrate the history, values and actions of the brand

Jerez de la Frontera, March 5, 2026

Fundador announces its active participation in the Spanish Gastronomy Capital Jerez 2026, an event that places the city as a gastronomic, cultural and tourist epicenter throughout the year.

“Participating in the Spanish Gastronomy Capital Jerez 2026 allows us to share our history, recover symbols that are part of the collective memory and continue building the future from our roots”, says Ángel Piña, advisor to Pedro Domecq and Global Commercial and Marketing Director Fundador, Grupo Emperador.

As part of this celebration, the firm will promote an ambitious program of actions aimed at highlighting the tradition of Brandy de Jerez and its close link with the local gastronomic identity. Experiences of harmonies, cultural encounters, collaborations with chefs, musical proposals, leisure activities and international projection actions will be part of the agenda that will accompany the city during 2026: a program conceived to invite to discover its flavor from multiple perspectives.

Under the slogan ‘Twelve ways to savor Jerez’, Fundador will develop its Gastronomic Year from Casa Fundador, the winery’s restaurant, with a proposal that connects tradition and innovation, heritage and contemporary creativity. A project that will take shape throughout 2026 turning each month into an invitation to discover a different nuance of the Jerez flavor.

Twelve ways to savor Jerez

This spirit will translate into a gastronomic journey that, month by month, will invite you to rediscover the city through its most emblematic products and its most identity-defining recipes. Thus, throughout the year there will be a Capital menu that will pay tribute to the land. Each stage will be dedicated to one of these essential flavors—from the sea to the pasture, from popular cuisine to traditional pastry—in a proposal that focuses on the product as an expression of territory and culture. In this sense, the opening of the Gastronomic Year has been a tribute to the origins, “to the pot and to the grandmothers who taught us the flavors of the earth,” says María Eugenia Herrera, director of Wine Tourism and PR for the brand. And following this tribute, there will always be a traditional stew on the menu along with themed tastings, meetings around artisan cheese, the traditional tuna ronqueo, meats with character, Jerez rice dishes, ceviches, ‘fried fish’, salted fish, appointments dedicated to the Iberian pigs of the Jerez pasture or the city’s Gourmet Christmas, configuring a continuous tribute to the local pantry, always in dialogue with the Brandy de Jerez as the guiding thread.

In parallel, the cycle Fundador & Friends will bring together prominent chefs such as Juanmi Contreras, Israel Ramos, Alejandro Sánchez, Javier Muñoz or Ale Alcántara in a series of gastronomic encounters where they will offer their contemporary interpretation of these products, reinforcing the link between culinary tradition and creative innovation.

The experience at Casa Fundador goes beyond the plate: the restaurant, located in the heart of the historic center and with a large outdoor terrace, where the kitchen is complemented by a wide range of cocktails that claim the versatility of brandy in the modern world. Among them, the refreshing Índigo, made with Fundador Sherry Cask Double Wood and ginger beer with lime; the proposals made with coffee, such as the Black Terry; the Ginger Mojito, or Magas by Fundador, which explores more aromatic profiles.

“We want those who come to Casa Fundador to understand that brandy is part of our culture, but also of our present. The Capital is the best scenario to demonstrate that tradition and innovation can go hand in hand,” adds Herrera.

Recovery of Don Pedrito: emotional heritage of the brand

Among the most symbolic initiatives of this 2026 is the recovery of Don Pedrito, a beloved figure who represents the creator of Fundador, Pedro Domecq Loustau, popularized in the 60s and turned into one of the great advertising icons of the house.

Affectionately known as “Zapatones”, this big-headed and friendly character invited Spaniards to enjoy a brandy to the rhythm of a melody that was etched in collective memory: “It’s like never before / the cognac that tastes best, Fundador / because it’s dry and smooth, Fundador…”

His presence was constant in newspapers, television and magazines, and his image starred in numerous promotional items. In 1964, the publisher Editorial Bruguera acquired the rights to the character to publish his comics in the magazine Tío Vivo, written and drawn by Francisco Ibáñez, creator of Mortadelo and Filemón and Zipi and Zape. In those cartoons Don Pedrito was already a traditional character, a reflection of an era and a close way of communicating.

His return in 2026 is not just a nostalgic nod. It means recovering a part of the collective imagination of several generations and bringing it to the present, in a year in which the city projects itself to the world.

Fundador, tradition and excellence

The history of Bodegas Fundador dates back to 1730, making it the oldest winery in the Marco de Jerez. In 1874 the first Spanish brandy was born in its facilities, laying the foundations of a unique tradition. Its distinctive character arises from aging through the Criaderas and Solera system, in American oak barrels previously steeped with Jerez wines, which provide aromatic complexity and an unmistakable profile.

Currently, Bodegas Fundador is part of Emperador Distillers, the Tan family holding, world leader in brandy and one of the largest manufacturers of spirits. Under its umbrella, Fundador and other brands such as Terry, Harveys or Espléndido continue to consolidate their presence inside and outside Spain, reinforcing the heritage and prestige of Jerez viticulture.

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