Cunca, something else than a cup of wine

In Galicia, Northwest Spain, by the Atlantic shore, we have a tradition that comes from very old. The wine served in a cup, or "cunca" as it is said there, this is the most traditional way to drink wine in Galicia. Until not many years ago, it was weird to find a tavern or a boozer that had not casks of wine  to fill the white porcelain jugs that finally ended up in the bar, or at the table so that at any time the patron could not miss the wine. White or red wine, Ribeiro, Barrantes, Albariño ... The kind of wines made in the old way in Galicia, usually wines of low graduation, young and fruity white and red wines pretty purple that left our languages in the same colour.

With the arrival of new wines from  other regions, and a change of mentality in the way of producing wine in Galicia, little by little this form of drinking has been losing its presence, to the point of becoming a practice not very common. Although there are still "authentic" places, where you can still taste these wines. And also shops where you can purchase the complete pack of a jar with its cuncas. The Tavern the Black Cat (O Gato Negro) in Santiago de Compostela is a required place to taste a wine in a cup, and also the Papuxa in Ribadavia, Ourense, cradle of Ribeiro wine, just to say a couple of places. And surely Galicia, in its innumerable taverns scattered throughout its villages and cities, will find places where we will miss the opportunity to try this traditional way to taste a wine.

There are still some nostalgic who occasionally yearn to drink one of these cups with that cloudy or purple wine that will cheer our senses, and we make of that a ceremony. Also at home it fulfills its function, and from time to time it is a pleasure to unleash a tradition as ingrained as drinking wine in cunca.

A toast to your health ladies and gentlemen!