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Wine Region Notes: Corpinnat (Barcelona)

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Source: @corpinnatsw Instagram

Corpinnat: Què és?

Corpinnat is

  • a brand / producer group
    • for sparkling wines
      • made in the heart (cor) of the Penedès
        • from 100% organic grapes
          • harvested by hand
            • entirely vinified on premises of the winery.

Brand

Unlike D.O. Cava, Champagne AOC, Franciacorta DOCG or TrentoDOC, Corpinnat ® is not a European geographical indication. It is a EU brand and producer group (as such resembles the German VDP.Sekt.Statut, for example).

Origins

Penedès, Catalunya is the region where the first sparkling wines were made in Spain (Raventós i Blanc, Sant Sadurní d’Anoia 1872). This is also the region where most Cava is produced (90%). However, for historical and legal reasons, Cava is also produced in the Ebro Valley (Rioja), Valencia, and Extremadura.

Corpinnat comes from Penedès.

Corpinnat deriva de tres paraules diferents que convergeixen en un sol concepte. Cor (fent referència al centre del territori) + Pinnae (el llatinisme que dona origen al mot Penedès) + nat (nascut a). Fusionades aquestes tres paraules, en resulta un missatge molt clar: nascut al cor del Penedès.

nadal.com

The territory covers 22.966 hectares. vineyard, of which currently 1126 hectares (5%) are used for the production of Corpinnat sparkling wines.

Source: corpinnat.com
Source: www.corpinnat.com/en/news/videos
Mapa de sòls Source: corpinanat.com

You can zoom in down to the vineyard level on the corpinanat.com website.

Detailed vineyard map. Source corpinanat.com

Historical Varieties

Like Cava, Corpinnat is made from traditional/indigenous/historical Penedès varieties macabeo (viura), xarel-lo, and parellada (classic blend) but other, preferably local varieties, are used as well: subirat (malvasía), sumoll, xarel-lo vermell, garnacha, and monstrall.

Whereas Cava allows single variety chardonnay (Codorníu Grand Plus Ultra Chardonnay Brut Nature) or pinot noir (Anna De Codorníu Blanc De Noirs), Corpinnat defines a maximum for “non-historical” varieties (chardonnay, pinot noir, trepat): 10% and aims to further reduce this.

Blends differ significantly. Torelló 225 Brut Nature 2018, for example, uses 57% xarel.lo, 23% macabeo and 20% parellada, Júlia Bernet Barraca dels Coscons 2019 100% xarel-lo, and Recaredo Reserva Paricular 2014 55% xarel·lo and 45% macabeo. In general, the longer the ageing, the more xarel-lo is used and less parellada, which adds a lighter, fruitier note (not unlike pinot meunier).

100% Organic

Like the Clàssic Penedès sparkling wines and Guarda Superior Cavas (Reserva, Gran Reserva, Paraje Calificado), Corpinnat is made using traditional farming methods and 100% organic treatments.

For the DO Cava and DO Penedès these represent premium offerings at smaller volumes; 100% organic does not apply to the regular Cava de Guarda (85% of production) or DO Penedès wines in general (95% is non-sparkling).

Champagne aims to be 100% organic by 2030 (according to its own framework), Franciacorta, and other PDO’s that focus on value rather than volume have similar goals.

Hand-harvested

Like Champagne, Franciacorta, Prosecco Superiore DOCG and Guarda Superior Cavas, Corpinnat is entirely hand-harvested.

This is not the case for high volume sparkling wines like Cava, Prosecco, or Sekt where 85% or more is machine-harvested.

Source: Annual Report 2024

On-Premises

As remarked, the grapes and base wine used to produce Cava may come from elsewhere. The grapes used to make Corpinnat must come from vineyards either owned by the winery or under long-term lease. The winemaker must be winegrower and the wine cannot be made in cellars shared with other winemakers.

In 2021, the D.O. Cava introduced the Elaborador Integral stamp, which has a similar requirements (to date, 17 of the 200+ Cava producers qualify).

Source: Annual Report 2024

Aging

The minimal aging requirement for Corpinnat is 18 months (similar to Franciacorta and to Cava Reserva). In addition, Corpinnat producers also offer a Reserva (30 months) and a Cuvée (60 months). This is similar to vintage Champagne and Franciacorta Millesmato and Riserva.

Source: Annual Report 2024

Almost all Corpinnat are single vintage sparkling wines with the year on the label. Here Corpinnat differs from Champagne where most (80-90%) wines are multi-vintage to mitigate between good and bad harvests. The Penedès ciimate is much milder.

In 2024, the Corpinnat wineries sold 2.2 million bottles.

The total sparking wine market is estimated at 2.500 million bottles. Champagne sold 271 million bottles (44% in France), Cava 218 million, Prosecco 660 million (DOCG 100 million), Sekt 370 million, and Franciacorta DOCG 19 million.

CORPINNATDownload

Socials

Producers

The six founding wineries from 2018 are Gramona, Llopart, Nadal, Recaredo, Sabaté i Coca, and Torelló. Huguet de Can Feixes, Júlia Bernet and Mas Candi joined soon after, followed by Descregut (2020), Pardas (2021), Bufadors (2023) and recently, Cisteller (2024) and Viader and Mas de la Basserola (2025).

For an introduction of each of the wineries, see

Locations

See the map on Google Earth for the winery locations

Google Earth

Gramona

Jaume Gramona – family-owned (Battle-Gramona since 1850); sparkling wine since 1921; sourced from their own vineyards (65 hectares) and those from the Alianzas por la Tierra winegrowers association (13 members, 421 hectares, including Gramona).

Wines

Llopart

Can Llopart de Subirats, family-owned (since 1385); sparkling wine since 1887; 102 hectares; produces both still and sparkling.

Wines

Nadal

Nadal family-owned (since 1510); sparkling wine since 1943; 100 hectares; produces both still and sparkling

Wines

nadal.com

Recaredo

Ton Mata – family-owned since 1924; 100 hectares; produces both still (Celler Credo) and sparkling

Wines

Sabaté i Coca

Marcel Sabaté – family-owned since 1855; Castellroig winery; 40 hectares.

Wines

www.sabateicoca.com

Torelló

Torelló family-owned (1395); winemaking since 1951, organic since 2014; 135 hectares.

Wines

Huguet de Can Feixes

Joan Huguet – family-owned winery; produces both still and sparkling; joined Corpinnat in 2018; 80 ha, 250.000 bottles.

Wines

Júlia Bernet

Xavier Bernet – family-owned winery since 2003; produces both still and sparkling; joined Corpinnat in 2018; 7 ha, 40.000 bottles.

Wines

Mas Candi

Ramon Jané and Mercè Cuscó – family-owned winery since 2006; half of the production is sparkling; joined Corpinnat in 2018; 20 ha, 60.000 bottles.

Wines

Can Descregut

Arantxa de Cara and Marc Milà – family-owned winery since 1992 (organic since 2005); half of the production is sparkling; joined Corpinnat in 2020; 25 ha, 60.000 bottles.

Wines

www.descregut.com/cat/corpinnat

Pardas

Jordi Arnan and Ramon Parera – family-owned since 1996; produces both still and sparkling; joined Corpinat in 2021; 30 ha.

Wines

Bufadors

Personal project from Ton Mata (Recaredo) and partner Encarna Castillo; joined Corpinnat in 2023.

Cisteller

Jessica Madigan & Sergi Canals – family-owned since 2022; produces both still and sparkling; joined Corpinnat November 2024; 12 ha.

Wines

Viader

Eduard Viader – family-owned since 2010 (Muscàndia); joined in March 2025 (Mar 2025); 10 ha; 50.000 bottles.

Wines

www.viader.eu

Mas de la Basserola

Martina Muts and Guillem Vives – family-owned since 1869; producing cava since 1987; joined Corpinnat in April 2025; 6 ha.

Wines

Media

España factura unos 1.100 millones de euros elaborando 250 millones de botellas de espumoso; Champaña, 5.000 millones con 300 millones de botellas. No es una gran diferencia en volumen, pero la del valor es sustancial

Import Nederland