Centro, Madrid
Walk-in only. Cash only. No photographs allowed in the bar.
Madrid's Heritage Sherry Bar
La Venencia opened in 1929 and has been serving sherry continuously since. The bar has five sherries on the wall — Manzanilla, Fino, Amontillado, Oloroso, Pedro Ximénez — and pours nothing else. No cocktails. No beer. Just sherry, served in the proper Spanish style.
The interior is preserved 1929 — wood-panelled walls, dim lighting, antique sherry casks, no decoration apart from old advertising posters. Photographs are not allowed (a rule from the Spanish Civil War when the bar was a Republican meeting place). Cash only. The bartender writes your bill on the wooden bar in chalk.
The crowd is heritage tourists, Spanish sherry enthusiasts, and Madrid regulars. Best as an afternoon stop. Pair with Casa Camacho for a Madrid heritage Spanish drinking afternoon.
