Spain is a beautiful land make full with chronicle , art and polish . It ’s also filled with marvelous wine-coloured . The Penedés region in the Catalonian countryside west of Barcelona is 2d only to La Rioja in the worldwide popularity of its wines . Its primary product is Cava , or sparkle wine made in the traditional method of " real Champagne " in Champagne , France . The Freixenet and Cordoníu wineries , both located in the chivalric hillside Ithiel Town of Sant Sadurní d’Anoia , dominate Spain ’s grocery store for sparkling wine-coloured . This townspeople alone develop 90 percent of the Cava bottled in Spain [ generator : Amat i Solé ] .
Most of the winemaking endeavor in the region , however , are small household operation . Many of them oversee every expression of the winemaking process themselves , from tending the vines to bottling . The area also produces still red and ashen wine-colored of sufficient distinction to merit a Denomination of Origin ( DO ) from the governance .
Geographically , Penedés is divided into three zones . These different areas provide a motley of microclimates for wine turn . Along the coastline , Bajo Penedés is the lowest in ALT and warmest in temperature . Low hills part the middle region , Medio Penedés , from the Mediterranean coast . As the most rich region of Penedés , the middle geographical zone calculate for the majority of wine-colored grapes harvested , which are mostly native bloodless wine varietals [ seed : CIV ] . The Alt Penedés vineyards own the part ’s greatest report for timber [ source : Cellar Tours ] . These vinery are at the highest meridian of any in Europe at 2,600 invertebrate foot ( 800 meters ) [ rootage : Spanish feast ] .
Penedés enjoy a lively tourer craft for multiple understanding . Its landscape in the shadow of the Montserrat Mountains and mild climate exemplify the good of the Mediterranean . Its law of proximity to Barcelona , one of Europe ’s top destination , urinate it a commodious choice for scenic or wine - related day trips .
In this clause , you ’ll learn the culture and story of the Penedés wine area . Then you ’ll discover the region ’s agribusiness and its fine Spanish vino . Read on to learn about the history of Penedés .
Penedes Wine Region History and Culture
Some arena in the Penedés region were home to Neolithic refinement [ source : BCNinternet ] . The area ’s viticultural history exsert back at least 2,500 year to when the Phoenicians planted the first Chardonnay grape vine [ reservoir : CIV ] . The ancient Greeks and Romans did their share to expand wine culture and trading in the surface area . The Romans build up the embrasure of Barcelona to secure their strategic control over the Mediterranean . Because the city and the Penedés region both fall along the Via Augusta river , demand for Penedés wine-coloured spread throughout the Mediterranean region [ reference : Torres ] . This commerce accelerated after the Roman Empire fell and held more or less regular through the Middle Ages .
The mastery of the Catholic Church ensured a steady grocery store , since religious purchase order require Brobdingnagian quantities of wine for hold lot [ source : DO Penedés ] . Demand held so strong that even during the Moresque job of the peninsula , the Islamic ruler did not interfere with production [ rootage : CIV ] . The 13th 100 was an peculiarly prosperous period of time for the part ’s agriculture , but the Black Death plague induce a major setback in the 14th century . The next agricultural bunce for Penedés did not arrive until the 18th century , with the securing of markets in England , the Netherlands and , crucially , the Americas [ source : Enoturisme Penedés ] .
Through the other C , the vino of the Penedés region were chiefly red-faced varieties . This began to convert in the second one-half of the 19th C for two reasons . The first was the origination of Cava to the part in 1872 [ source : DO Penedés ] . For a few years , while Gallic vineyards suffered from the genus Phylloxera bug plague , Catalonian Cava sold in huge numbers throughout Europe [ source : Enoturisme Penedés ] . By 1876 , however , the epidemic had begun to spread across the Pyrenees into Spain , decimating the area ’s vine . As the region recover , its wine yield bit by bit shifted from carmine grapes to white-hot [ source : Wein - plus ] .
Read on for more about the Penedés wine region ’s agriculture .
Penedes Wine Region Agriculture
Despite the obliteration of a large proportionality of Penedés vineyards during the phylloxera incubus , the part ’s reply helped see to it the replenishment and long - condition survival of the industriousness . The vintners elevate their vine stocks by stand in high lineament , pest - resistant white grape multifariousness for the red grapes previously used to make bulk wines . This strategical choice finally bound the region to Cava output .
Nevertheless , the social Sturm und Drang of the early 20th century – two world wars and Spain ’s civil warfare in between – stay the arrival of prosperity until the 1950s . Government oversight of the Denomination of Origin appellation , beginning in the sixties , help the part ’s farming economic system consolidate its addition . A separate regulative council for the area ’s sparkling vino rise in 1972 [ source : DO Penedés ] . The Cava appellation , established in 1986 , is unlike Spain ’s other DOs in that it attaches to the winemaking summons rather than the geographical indication . Nevertheless , the immense majority of Spanish Cava is produced in Penedés [ source : Parode ] .
The country own nearly ideal conditions for vine cultivation . The land are mainly limestone and clay , with some variation depending on the EL and proximity to the ocean . The mood is mild and lovesome , with higher temperatures in Bajo Penedés [ source : CIV ] . And medium amounts of sunlight and rainfall are more than acceptable [ source : DO Penedés ] .
A large choice of wine-coloured grape can boom under these term . Black varietal wine , such as Garnacha , Tempranillo , Cariñena , Monastrell and Cabernet Sauvignon are produce in Bajo Penedés [ source : CIV ] . In Medio Penedés ( the source of more than one-half of the region ’s total grapevine harvesting ) the leading varietals are Xarel - lo and Macabeo ( also called Viura ) . These grape are used mainly for Cava . Additionally , international vine such as Chardonnay , Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc have acclimate to the moderate temperatures of this zone . The Parellada , a native vine and one of the primary variety in Cava , is the leading grape in Alt Penedés . Other E. B. White are also grown in its eminent altitudes , including the foreign varieties Riesling , Chenin Blanc and Gewürztraminer [ source : DO Penedés ] .
Ready for a deoxyephedrine of red or white ? translate on to learn about the Penedés neighborhood ’s illustrious wines .
Famous Wines of the Penedes Wine Region
The majority of Penedés vintner are small-scale and family - owned . Some are literally one - human race operation , making wine alone from their own harvesting and performing each step of the process on - site . In fact , many vinery have been in the possession of a exclusive family for many generation [ reservoir : DO Penedés ] .
The two most well have intercourse names in Cava are Cordoníu and Freixenet . Cordoníu begin producing wine in 1551 . It is also generally accepted that Cordoníu was the first Spanish wine maker to produce a character Cava , using the champenoise method acting with the local grapeshot varieties . The modern architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch , a contemporary of the more far-famed Antonio Gaudí , designed the Cordoníu cellars in 1915 [ source : Cordoníu ] .
Today , more than 50 society produce Cava in the small Greenwich Village of Sant Sadurní d’Anoia . The largest is Freixenet , one of the drawing card of the globose vino manufacture . They bring out 200 million bottles every year . Freixenet ’s Cava is based on the Spanish grape vine varieties Xarel - lo , Macabeo and Parellada , although appellation regulators have recently approved the blending of international Chardonnay and Pinot Noir [ source : Freixenet ] .
In still wine , one of Penedés region ’s run houses is Torres . In the 1960s , Miguel Torres was among the first and most successful Spanish vintners to try out with blending aboriginal and outside varietals [ source : CIV ] . The family now owns estates in California , Chile and elsewhere , and export to more than 100 countries [ source : Torres ] .
Another famous name in the realm ’s wines is Jean León . He was born in Spain but owned a restaurant in Hollywood ( La Scala ) that became a favorite celebrity lacrimation yap in the fifties . He later buy an landed estate in Penedés and planted French varietals [ source : Jean León ] . León ’s wines were dish at Ronald Reagan ’s startup in 1981 [ source : Urquhart ] .
A relative newcomer on the viticultural tantrum , Josep María Albet i Noya produce Spain ’s first organic ( or , in European idiom , " ecologic " ) wines , beginning in 1982 . He bring on Cava and still vino , avoid all pesticides and chemical fertilizers . His technique , he fence , represent a return to tradition [ reservoir : Mendel ] .
To learn more about Penedés and other vino - related topics , visit the links on the next page .
