Proudly independent, uniquely Mediterranean
A region of proudly independent-minded denizens, Catalonia straddles both a small part of southern France (the Roussillon) and the northeastern sector of Spain around Barcelona. This hilly Mediterranean region is perhaps best known for Cava, a traditional-method sparkling wine developed in the late 19th century and which reaped acclaim and success in the ensuing years, but it includes nine subregions, the most notable of which include Priorat, Montsant, Terra Alta, and Penedès. Penedès, home to our much-loved partner Recaredo, produces the greatest overall volume of wine, from slopes rich in limestone overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. In its hundred-plus years of existence, Recaredo has led the Penedès on many fronts: they were the first estate to convert to biodynamic viticulture, the first to produce a single-vineyard Cava, and, more recently, they formed the Corpinnat group—a secession movement away from a Cava market they saw as having become overly commercial.
Furthermore, we have always relished the unique pleasures of wines that undergo long aging, whether through extended stints in cask or patient cellaring in bottle (or both). So many wines today are consumed in their extreme youth, the roar of their primary fruit drowning out the softer but more resonant murmuring that emerges only with age; Sherry, by contrast, derives a large part of its distinct character through extended aging, with the fractional blending of the solera system allowing for staggeringly old vintages to live on and to be represented in each successive saca (extraction from cask for bottling).
Growers
