The Cava D.O. versus CORPINNAT

When I first tried Spanish Cava in 1981, it was on the heels of tasting Cremant from Alsace and the Bourgogne regions. The first Cava I tasted was the Freixenet Cordon Negro Brut from Catalunya-Spain. My initial experience was tasting French sparkling and Champagne regional wines and demonstrated originally the higher style and quality of the French wines. However, the bond and mortgage markets made the value of Freixenet sparkling wine indisputable in early 1981. The Grand Marques Champagne houses (and the superb value Cremant, Taittinger owned Bouvet of the Loire Valley were eye opening).

The French sparkling wines, in spite of the region grown, were so different from Spanish Cava flavors, that the scale preference initially was weighted to France amongst the tasters attending.

My divorced mother had recently in 1980 begun seeing a Texan widower. She often went to East Texas to visit him and get a sense of his community and friends. This was an opportunity to display her perfect location for hosting large gatherings and sell her home.

My friend John Casteel gave our holiday gathering the sobriquet, Stuffy Bubbles. This was a sparkling wine potluck where all comers were encouraged, especially friends impacted by the economic mortgage and bonds markets. Large colorful plastic ice bins centered on plastic wrapped discs to protect the tiles and lawn which the bottles of sparkling wine guests contributed could be chilled became quite the festive event. The Freixenet importer generously seeded the inventory to make the wine largess apparent. Newly opened Bakeries and restaurants became quite the full service catered event and made the kitchen hum with energy.

I spent some time opening the Cava and noticed a passing aroma of mushroom moreish-ness. The wine’s sweetness was offset by the balanced forest floor, low key aromas provided by the multi grape blend so familiar to traditional yeast aged sparkling French wine tastes. However, the Spanish Cava was an exotic hit much to the delight of the importer. All the host contributors were enthusiastic from the satisfied tasters’ conversational buzz!

The Catalan Cava D.O. is dominated by the Freixenet and Codorniu producers. Both wineries in 1981 slugged it out during holidays with retail prices I recall at around 3$ US dollar per bottle when purchased by 12 bottle cases. Two years later I traveled to Barcelona’s Sant Sadurní d’Anoia to immerse myself in the region learning as much about regional Cava sparkling wine, and the humongous and gregarious Torres winery, known for still red wines and Spain’s experimental vineyard leader!

Several Cava wineries impressed me with their wines: Sola Raventos masterful fruit elegance, and superb effervescence length. Gramona and Recaredo demonstrated how only the most attentive winemakers could highlight and exemplify the art of vineyard blending and bottle aging. The Juve & Camps, seemed to me, poised to become the one brand that had not reached the center of the US, but had the best distribution potential matching the wines’ quality. I had 1981 wine ideas, but my taste opinions were uninformed.

I was palette deaf when it came to my wine prejudices!

The winery that simply astonished me for its fruit refinement, and level of fermentation commitment is Bohigas Riserva Brut Cava (and my personal favorite forty years later), displays an elegant, ripe acid cut with very sophisticated fruit, and is priced ridiculously affordable! Bohigas provides many excellent quality levels, the best sublime but priced at a premium champagne level! So these Cava over-achievers sold at bargain prices baffled me how the rest of the world’s sparklers could compete?!

Enter the Penedes Corpinnat planning scheme at the turn of the 21st century, with grape growers facing harvest heat summation outperforming the grape vineyards’ ripening cycle. A commitment to the heart of Penedes planted vineyards was established. The Corpinnat model embraced a stringent production schedule by emphasizing classic indigenous grape varieties, eighteen months minimum wine lees bottle aging, using only estate manually harvested organic grapes from the winery’s sustainably practiced viticulture. Corpinnat has been a major step forward reinforcing and improving the Cava image and traditions.

Only the finest member wineries themselves are self regulating and beholding to this commitment with regular reviews by the *L’Associació d’Elaboradors i Viticultors Corpinnat (AVEC) [The Association of Wine Producers and Growers Corpinnat (AVEC), registered at the Department of Justice of the Generalitat of Catalonia on the 1st of September, 2017 was formed by the original six wineries founding the CORPINNAT Brand*, has now expanded to eleven extraordinarily committed Penedes region members Spanish wineries!
www.corpinnat.com

Gramona

• Carrer Indústria, 36
• 08770 Sant Sadurní d’Anoia- Barcelona
• www.gramona.com
• comunicacio@gramona.com
• +34 938910113

Gramona has been working their land uninterruptedly since the middle of the XIX Century. A family with a strong viticultural tradition, located in Sant Sadurni d’Anoia, which for many years has produced wines and cavas with respect and passion for the land, and with its own seal of quality. Today, the fifth generation of the family has perfected the ability of transforming their wines into great sparkling wines maintaining traditional processes: natural cork stoppers during the ageing process, traditional racks for settling and manual disgorgement. They are faithful to a sustainable philosophy and respectful of the surroundings, and for this reason, they apply bio-dynamic agriculture and vinification in the cultivation of their vines and in the production of their wines and cavas.

Llopart

• Ctra. de Sant Sadurni a Ordal, Km.4
• Els Casots
• 08739 Subirats-Barcelona
• www.llopart.com
• llopart@llopart.com
• Tel +34 938993125

The winegrowing tradition of the Llopart family has been rooted in the family Estate in Subirats since the XIV Century. Their 102 hectares of ecologically cultivated mountain vineyards sit on shady slopes in of the highest areas of the Penedés. Llopart has been producing quality sparkling wines for more than 135 years, firmly defending the traditional method and craftsmanship of the wine, with respect for sustainability and always seeking the authenticity of lengthy aging.

Nadal

• Finca Nadal de la Boadella, s/n
• 08733 El Pla del Penedès, Barcelona
• www.nadal.com
• amics@nadal.com
• Tel +34 938988011

The Nadal family has been dedicated, since 1510, to the cultivation of grapes and the production of wines on the Nadal de la Boadella Estate. During the years of the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), the Nadal vineyard had been expropriated so as to construct a Republican aerodrome, but when it was regained by the family after the war, Ramon Nadal Giró decided to abandon the production of wine spirit, to open the way for the creation of sparkling wines with native varieties grown on the estate. It was in 1943 that the first bottle of Nadal Brut came into being.

Recaredo

• Carrer Tamarit, 10
• 08770 Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, Barcelona
• www.recaredo.com
• info@recaredo.com
• Tel: +34 938910214

Recaredo is a family of biodynamic winegrowers specializing in Millésime Brut Nature Long-Aged Sparkling Wines. They are committed to capturing the landscapes of CORPINNAT in a bottle. That’s what drives them to cultivate family-owned vineyards planted with 100% autochthonous varieties, especially Xarel·lo grapes. Recaredo’s Sparkling Wines have forged a truly unique style defined by long-ageing –from a minimum of 30 months to over 15 years in the darkness of their cellars. All of Recaredo’s sparkling wines, without exception, are aged with natural cork stoppers, which are technically ideal for preserving the original character of a long-aged wine. At Recaredo, disgorgement is still done by true artisans, who expel the lees manually at the naturally cool temperature of the cellars.

Sabaté i Coca

• Ctra. Vilafranca, kom 0,1
• 08770 Sant Sadurní d’Anoia-Barcelona
• +34 938914055
• www.castellroig.com
• info@castellroig.com

The fourth generation of the Sabaté i Coca family cares for, works and pays homage to an estate located in the valley of the River Bitlles covering 40 hectares. The will to become aware of the different soils of the estate made Marcel Sabaté differential viticulture according to the 18 profiles that have been discovered of the soil. The Castellroig range of wines expresses the harmony and complexity of the more than 60 micro-plots that make up this estate. These singular soils, which give the wines a vibrant typical varietal and that express the mineral content of the vineyard, are vinified separately. Named singular wines are: Terroja, Josep Coca and the qualified plot ‘Cava de paratge qualificat’ Terroja of Sabaté and Coca ( a vineyard with Xarel-lo vines of more than 100 years).

Torelló

• Finca Can Martí. Ctra Sant Sadurní a Gelida, km.13,4
• 08790 Gelida- Barcelona
• www.torello.com
• torello@torello.es
• +34 938910793

The Torelló wines and sparklings originate from the vineyards of the Can Martí estate that have belonged to the Torelló family since 1395 and occupy 135 hectares in l’Alt Penedés (The Upper Penedés region). Own vineyards, organic farming, manual harvesting, vinified on the property and long ageing define the Torelló sparkling wines. We only produce long aged quality sparkling wines, DO Penedés wines and extra virgin olive oil.

Can Feixes

• 1 Carrer Can Feixes (15,97 km)
• 08718 Cabrera de Igualada
• www.canfeixes.com
• canfeixes@canfeixes.com
• +34 937 71 82 27

The Can Feixas estate is located in the northernmost part of the Penedés, In the highlands of Cabrera and Mediona. At 400 meters above sea level on the slopes of the interior mountains which geographically separate the regions of the Penedés and Anoia. Founded in 1768 by Jaume Feixas, the Can Feixas estate was purchased from his descendants by the Huguet family at the beginning of the XX century. We produce both still and sparkling wines exclusively from our own manually harvested grapes.

Júlia Bernet

• Avinguda de Barcelona, 24
• 08739 – El Pago (Subirats)
• Tel: +34 938994095
• info@juliabernet.com – xavi@juliabernet.com
• www.juliabernet.com

Júlia Bernet is a family winery located in the Ordal mountains with vineyards that grow on rough and calcareous soil located at 400 metres above sea level. The still and sparkling wines of this estate are all grown ecologically and are exclusively harvested manually. The case of Júlia Bernet is the paradigm of a family if landowners who 16 years ago decided to produce their own still and sparkling wines concentrating on quality and undertaking with the land from serious and honest points of view.

Mas Candí

• Ctra. de les Gunyoles, s/n
• 08793 Les Gunyoles
• Tel. +34 680 76 52 75/+34 636 62 15 10
• info@mascandi.com
• www.mascandi.com

The young winery of Mas Candi commenced activities in 2006 and is located in the area of Les Gunyoles d’Avinyonet on the Garraf hills. They are wine growing landowners wishing to continue with the cultivation of vines planted by our grandparents and which the family had owned since the XVI century. Respectful of nature and seeking a natural balance for the vines, by cultivating them ecologically and with careful handling. Defenders of the autochthonous varieties which for years have been cultivated in our area and which have shown us their adaptability. With our inquiring and restless nature we like to experiment with different techniques both in the production of wines and in the vineyards with the vines.

Can Descregut

• Masia Can Descregut, s/n
• 08735 Vilobí del Penedès
• Tel. +34 93 897 82 73
• info@descregut.com
• www.descregut.com

From the Can Descregut farmhouse located in Vilobí del Penedès, Arantxa de Cara and Marc Milà produce wines and quality sparkling wines. They follow criteria of minimal intervention so as to express the typicality of the Penedès and the character of the Vilobí soils that provide a calcareous minerality rich in gypsum. With an area of ​​25 hectares of organic cultivation, the old vines predominate with the ancient and traditional varieties Xarel·lo, Macabeu, Parellada, Sumoll and Red Xarel.lo. Of the latter, they were pioneers in their recovery.

Pardas

• Masia Can Comas, 2,
• 08775 Torrelavit
• Tel. +34 938 995 005
• pardas@cancomas.com
• www.cellerpardas.com

Pardas represents the lifelong project of Pamon Parera and Jordi Arnan to produce the best possible wines at the Can Comas Estate, in the heart of the valley of the river Bitlles, in the North of the Penedès region. We care for and live on the land. Our undertaking is to cultivate all the grapes we require for our production. This means for us a remarkably high value. We join Corpinnat with the same philosophy which has been the characteristic that has accompanied us along the road with our still wines, defending and valuing all the potential for ageing of our principal varieties: Xarel-lo and Sumoll. All our sparkling wines are Brut Nature. We feel that in this way we faithfully maintain the primary characteristics of our musts. To detain, freeze in time with a second fermentation, seems to us to be a marvellous idea for sharing our wines with you.