Most visitors to San Fermín pick up a bota bag at some point during fiesta, squeeze wine toward their face once, wear the result, and spend the rest of the week carrying it as a conversation piece. This is the wrong relationship to have with one of the oldest and most practical drinking tools in Spanish culture. The bota bag is not a prop. It is how Navarrans have carried, shared, and drunk wine in the open air for centuries, and during nine days of fiesta in Pamplona it is still the most functional way to keep wine on your person from morning through night.
What visitors lose by treating the bota bag as a decorative purchase is more than a technique. They lose access to a genuine piece of fiesta participation: the social ritual of offering someone a drink from your own bag, receiving one from theirs, and doing all of it without anyone’s lips touching the nozzle. The bota is designed for communal drinking in a way that no cup, bottle, or glass can match. It is also, for a visitor who fills it with inexpensive local wine and carries it through the Casco Viejo all day, considerably more economical than buying drinks one at a time from a bar.
This article draws on the production history and technical records of Las Tres ZZZ, the Pamplona wineskin workshop that has been making bota bags by hand since 1873 and is now in its fourth generation, alongside documentation of the craft traditions that predate the commercial era and the role of the bota in Navarran cultural life.
What the Bota Bag Actually Is
The bota bag, known in Spanish as the bota de vino, is a flexible, squeezable wineskin designed for portable wine storage and hands-free communal drinking. The outer shell is goatskin, vegetable-tanned using oak or chestnut bark tannins for durability and suppleness. The interior is lined with either pine resin (called pez in Spanish, the traditional choice) or latex (the modern alternative). A narrow nozzle at one end is capped when not in use.
The two internal lining options carry different practical implications. Pitch-lined botas are the traditional choice: the pine resin forms an airtight seal and, over time, imparts a subtle woody character to the wine held inside. Traditionalists prize this as part of the experience. The drawback is that pitch does not hold up well against carbonated drinks or spiriits above roughly 30% ABV, which can degrade or displace the resin seal. Latex-lined botas are flavor-neutral and accept any liquid, including sparkling drinks and stronger spirits, making them easier to maintain and more versatile for daily use.
The craft of making a bota bag involves more than 40 distinct steps and takes between 10 and 20 hours per bag in the hands of an experienced botero (the craftsman’s formal title in Spanish). The two pieces of goatskin are hand-cut from a pattern, sewn together with hemp thread rubbed through with pitch, then turned inside-out so the seam and the hair of the skin face inward. The lining is applied, the nozzle fitted, and the seams checked before the bag is considered finished. The process has changed very little in 150 years.
A Pamplona Institution Since 1873
The wineskin’s history in the Iberian Peninsula predates any written record that can be precisely dated. Goatskin containers for wine appear in Roman-era sources and Mediterranean trade records stretching back well before the first century. The Moorish occupation of the peninsula from the 8th to 15th centuries reinforced and spread the design across Iberia. The Basque version of the wineskin, called a zahato or zahak, was in use among Navarran and Basque shepherds for centuries before the first commercial workshops opened. Its maker was called a zahatogile in Basque. By the medieval period, the botero was a recognized trade guild occupation in Navarran towns, and the craft regions of Navarre and La Rioja had developed the most established production traditions in Spain. La Rioja puts the bota to its most literal use every June 29 in Haro, where wineskins double as weapons in the Batalla del Vino, a wine battle with a documented history very different from the one most visitors hear about.
The specific Pamplona institution worth knowing is Las Tres ZZZ, founded in 1873 by Eusebio Iglesias on Comedias Street in the Casco Viejo. Gregorio Pérez, from the Aragonese town of Almudévar, joined as an apprentice and eventually became a partner, and the workshop was renamed Botería E. Iglesias y G. Pérez. In 1914, Gregorio’s wife gave birth to triplets: Caridad, Carmen, and Pilar. In honor of all three surviving daughters, Gregorio renamed the business Las Tres ZZZ, with each Z standing for zagala (meaning shepherdess in Spanish). The name has not changed since.
The connection to Ernest Hemingway is direct and documented by the family. During one of his San Fermines visits in the 1920s, Hemingway entered the Comedias Street shop and purchased two bota bags, a 4-liter and a 3-liter, reportedly at a very favorable price. In The Sun Also Rises, published in 1926, Hemingway describes entering a botería in the center of Pamplona. The shop he describes is Las Tres ZZZ. The company notes this was, in effect, “an excellent advertising investment.”
Production at Las Tres ZZZ peaked in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when the factory employed thirty workers and produced more than 215,000 bota bags per year. Regulations prohibiting wine-drinking at work and in public shows reduced demand after that peak. The business has remained in the family across four generations and still operates both its old town retail shop on Comedias Street and a production facility on the outskirts of Pamplona.
The Technique Is Not Optional
The bota bag has a specific and learnable technique. Getting it wrong is not a matter of style; it is a matter of physics. Put your lips on the nozzle and squeeze, and you get wine on your face, your shirt, and the person standing nearest to you. This is the experience most first-timers have, and it is why many visitors conclude that the bota is impractical. It is not impractical. The technique simply requires a short learning period.
Hold the bota firmly by its middle. Tip your head back and open your mouth. Point the nozzle toward your open mouth and squeeze the bag steadily. The pressure drives a stream of wine in an arc from the nozzle to your mouth, and the nozzle never touches your lips. Start with the nozzle close to your mouth and the stream short. As you develop control over the pressure and the angle, you can extend the distance until the bota is at arm’s length while you are still drinking. A clean stop requires a quick, decisive release of pressure and a simultaneous tilt of the bag downward. A few minutes of practice will make the technique reliable. Using two hands at first helps new users control the direction of the nozzle.
The same mechanics are what make the bota bag work for group sharing. Pass it to someone, they tip back and receive the stream, and they pass it on. Nobody’s lips touch the nozzle. This is the design working as intended: a container optimized for communal drinking in public, without the hygiene problems of shared cups or glasses. During San Fermín, where open containers are carried through streets crowded with thousands of people across nine days, this design is not incidental. It is the point.
The Bota at San Fermín: How It Actually Works
Alcohol may be carried and consumed openly in the streets throughout San Fermín, which makes the bota bag a genuinely practical choice for anyone who wants to keep wine on hand through a full day without stopping at a bar for every drink. Fill it with an inexpensive Navarran or Rioja table wine, or sangria if you prefer something lighter, from a vinoteca or a supermarket in the old town. A 1-liter or 1.5-liter bota, topped up once in the morning, can carry a visitor from the almuerzo gatherings through the long afternoon without requiring a stop.
The practical economics are real. A liter of decent table wine from a shop in the Casco Viejo costs a fraction of what a bar charges per glass. Spread across nine days of fiesta, that difference is not small. The bota does not replace the experience of standing at a bar with a caña of beer or a glass of rosado; those are their own things, worth doing on their own terms. But for the hours spent in the streets, at outdoor meals, or watching the morning from a plaza, the bota is the tool for the job.
Dennis Clancey, Founder of Encierro, puts it simply: learn the technique before your first real day in the streets. The bota makes it easy to carry more than you need to drink quickly, which means the pace of drinking deserves as much attention as the technique itself. Accepting a drink from someone else’s bota is a normal part of fiesta social life, but use your own judgment about who you accept from. Sharing wine is part of the culture. Being thoughtful about it is also part of the culture.
If you buy a pitch-lined bota and want it to last, store it with a small amount of wine inside rather than empty. The pitch seal benefits from staying in contact with wine between uses. Latex-lined botas are more forgiving and can be stored empty.
Where to Buy a Bota Bag in Pamplona
There is one place in Pamplona that matters for this purchase: Las Tres ZZZ on Comedias Street in the Casco Viejo. The workshop has been producing bota bags in Pamplona since 1873 and is the source Hemingway patronized, the source that supplies the international market, and the place where the full range of sizes and lining options is available from people who know what they are selling.
Cheap imitation bota bags are widely sold at souvenir shops throughout the old town during San Fermín. These are typically synthetic-material products with plastic linings and are not built to last beyond the festival. They will function for a day or two. If you want a bota bag that develops character over years of use and can serve across multiple visits to San Fermines, buy a goatskin bag from Las Tres ZZZ and specify whether you want pitch or latex lining. For a first purchase intended for daily fiesta use, 1 liter is the practical starting size.
FAQ
What do you put in a bota bag at San Fermín?
Most people fill their bota with inexpensive Navarran or Rioja table wine, which works well in both pitch-lined and latex-lined bags. Sangria is also common, particularly for visitors who prefer something slightly lighter and sweeter. If your bota is pitch-lined, avoid carbonated drinks, as the carbonation can damage the resin seal. A latex-lined bota accepts any liquid. For budget-conscious fiesta attendance, buying wine by the liter from a shop and filling the bota beats buying drinks by the glass at a bar, especially over nine days.
How do you drink from a bota bag without spilling?
Hold the bag firmly by the middle, tip your head back with your mouth open, and squeeze steadily so the wine streams in an arc from the nozzle to your mouth. The critical point is not touching the nozzle to your lips. Start with the nozzle close to your face and a short stream until you have the angle and pressure right, then extend the distance as you get more confident. Stop the flow by releasing pressure quickly and tilting the bag downward. The technique is learnable in a few minutes and becomes reliable with a small amount of practice before your first day in the streets.
Where can I buy a bota bag in Pamplona?
Las Tres ZZZ on Comedias Street in the Casco Viejo is the authentic source, making bota bags by hand in Pamplona since 1873. Souvenir shops throughout the old town sell cheaper synthetic versions that will function for a few days but lack the longevity of a proper goatskin bag. If you want a bota that will last across multiple fiesta visits, buy from Las Tres ZZZ and specify whether you want a pitch or latex lining.
What is the difference between a pitch-lined and a latex-lined bota bag?
Pitch, made from pine resin, is the traditional interior lining. It imparts a subtle woody flavor or wine stored inside, and the bag stores best with some wine left in it to maintain the seal. Pitch-lined botas do not work well with carbonated drinks or spirits above roughly 30% ABV. Latex is the modern alternative: flavor-neutral, accepts any liquid, and easier to maintain with no special storage requirements. Traditionalists tend to prefer pitch for the character it develops over time; anyone who values simplicity and versatility should choose latex.
Every article on the Encierro blog is authored or reviewed by active bull runners with direct experience in Pamplona.