Penedès
Mediterranean
Catalonia's leading wine region, south-west of Barcelona: the historic home of Cava, and increasingly serious still wine from local and international grapes.
Overview
About Penedès
Penedès stretches inland from the Mediterranean coast south-west of Barcelona, rising from warm coastal vineyards to cooler, higher ground inland. It's the traditional heart of Cava, Spain's own traditional-method sparkling wine, made mainly from the local Macabeo, Xarel·lo and Parellada, but its still wines — both local varieties and Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and other international grapes planted from the 1960s on, led by the Torres family — have earned it a reputation well beyond sparkling wine.
Penedès is marked on the map.
Spain
Shaded: Barcelona. Map units are states, provinces or départements, so a smaller place appears as the larger area that contains it.
The land
Climate & terroir
Climate
Mediterranean
Warm and Mediterranean on the coastal plain, cooling with altitude inland, giving growers a wide range of mesoclimates to match grape to site.
Terroir & soils
What the vines grow in
Varied: sandy soils near the coast, limestone and clay on the mid-altitude slopes best suited to Cava's base grapes.
Go deeper
Rules, years & producers
Torres
The region's dominant name, a family firm that helped pioneer Spain's modern wine industry.
Jean Leon
A California-trained pioneer of Cabernet Sauvignon in Spain.
Gramona
A leading, long-aged, traditional-method Cava house.
Recaredo
An organic, hand-riddled Cava producer known for long lees ageing.