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Buy Wine from Codorníu
To speak of Codorníu is to speak of a history that is not measured in decades, but in centuries. The Codorníu family bottled wine as early as the 16th century. Since Anna Codorníu married Miquel Raventós in the 17th century, the history of this family has been interwoven with the history of Cava. It was his descendant, Josep Raventós, who in 1872 produced Cava for the first time in Spain, using the traditional champenoise method. Since then, the surname has been irrevocably linked to the history of Spanish sparkling wine: the first Cava was born, made according to the traditional method, with secondary fermentation in the bottle. Long before the Cava Designation of Origin even existed as a concept, Codorníu had already laid the foundations for what would become one of the most unique and recognisable wine products in the Pais.
where is all this happening? In Sant Sadurní d'Anoia
The centre of operations is in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia in the Alt Penedès, some 40 km southwest of Barcelona. This is where three decisive factors for viticulture come together: the Mediterranean climate with a clear continental influence, calcareous soils with excellent drainage and a topography that alternates gentle hills with fertile valleys. The Penedès is broadly divided into three areas: the Lower Penedès, which is warmer and closer to the sea; the Middle Penedès, where most of the historic vineyards are located; and the Upper Penedès, which reaches heights of over 500 metres and provides the grapes with natural freshness. Codorníu grows grapes in all of them, but it is in the highest areas where he seeks the tension, finesse and natural acidity that define his most ambitious sparkling wines.
The soil also speaks (and speaks very well)
The soils of the Alt Penedès, dominated by calcareous marl and red clay, retain water efficiently and allow the roots to go deeper, which translates into wines with more aromatic layer and structure. Here, the temperature change between day and night is significant during the ripening period, and it is this thermal amplitude that gives the sparkling wines their nerve and precision. There is no excess sugar or over-ripening. Harvesting, often by hand, takes place between late August and mid-September, and each parcel is picked at just the right point to ensure a balance between natural acidity, moderate alcohol content and varietal expression.
Big, but with head (and soul)
Despite its scale - Codorníu produces millions of bottles a year - the winery has been surprisingly agile in adapting to changing times. Over the last two decades, it has embarked on a more segmented line of work, focusing on specific vineyards, on long-aged wines and on the promotion of native varieties such as Xarel.lo, Macabeo and Parellada. While other houses fell into the temptation of flooding the market with young cavas without identity, Codorníu opted for the development of its Ars Collecta range, where it works with ageing of more than 30 months, minimum dosage and a clearly gastronomic profile.
Its style: elegance without shouting
The house style has always been more about elegance than power, more about texture than sweetness. Unlike many oxidative and heavily aged Catalan cavas, Codorníu cavas tend to show white fruits, dried flowers, fine brioche notes and an integrated bubble, more creamy than aggressive. This is no coincidence: long ageing on lees -some labels are aged for more than 60 months- allows for a slow, controlled evolution, where the effervescence becomes texture and the wine behaves more like a white wine for ageing than a simple sparkling wine.
A winery that is also a work of art
The modernist winery, one of the architectural jewels of Catalan industrial modernism, deserves a special mention. It was designed by Josep Puig i Cadafalch, a disciple of Gaudí, and opened in 1915. Its underground cellars stretch along more than 30 kilometres of hand-dug tunnels, and are not only a monument to the country's wine-making history, but also an ageing system that maintains a constant temperature and humidity without the need for mechanical intervention. There, silence and darkness shelter millions of bottles that rest for years before seeing the light of day.
When even Champagne was watching from the sidelines
Among its most unique anecdotes is that of its key role at the turn of the century, when many Champagne houses began to look askance at the quality of Catalan sparkling wines. Codorníu responded not only by maintaining the traditional standard of production, but also by investing in R&D, promoting studies on indigenous yeasts, optimal stirring times and closures that would allow ageing without premature oxidation. Far from hiding, the house assumed its role as a benchmark, even when that meant moving into uncomfortable terrain.
Tradition and avant-garde, without contradiction
Today, Codorníu moves between two worlds: the world of large volume, yes, but also the world of plot wines, regenerative viticulture and experimental microvinification. Few houses have managed to make this transition without losing their soul along the way. Few, too, have maintained such a clear common thread over more than five centuries. Codorníu is not a relic. It is a living, and sometimes uncomfortably modern, winery.
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Buy Wine from Codorníu
To speak of Codorníu is to speak of a history that is not measured in decades, but in centuries. The Codorníu family bottled wine as early as the 16th century. Since Anna Codorníu married Miquel Raventós in the 17th century, the history of this family has been interwoven with the history of Cava. It was his descendant, Josep Raventós, who in 1872 produced Cava for the first time in Spain, using the traditional champenoise method. Since then, the surname has been irrevocably linked to the history of Spanish sparkling wine: the first Cava was born, made according to the traditional method, with secondary fermentation in the bottle. Long before the Cava Designation of Origin even existed as a concept, Codorníu had already laid the foundations for what would become one of the most unique and recognisable wine products in the Pais.
where is all this happening? In Sant Sadurní d'Anoia
The centre of operations is in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia in the Alt Penedès, some 40 km southwest of Barcelona. This is where three decisive factors for viticulture come together: the Mediterranean climate with a clear continental influence, calcareous soils with excellent drainage and a topography that alternates gentle hills with fertile valleys. The Penedès is broadly divided into three areas: the Lower Penedès, which is warmer and closer to the sea; the Middle Penedès, where most of the historic vineyards are located; and the Upper Penedès, which reaches heights of over 500 metres and provides the grapes with natural freshness. Codorníu grows grapes in all of them, but it is in the highest areas where he seeks the tension, finesse and natural acidity that define his most ambitious sparkling wines.
The soil also speaks (and speaks very well)
The soils of the Alt Penedès, dominated by calcareous marl and red clay, retain water efficiently and allow the roots to go deeper, which translates into wines with more aromatic layer and structure. Here, the temperature change between day and night is significant during the ripening period, and it is this thermal amplitude that gives the sparkling wines their nerve and precision. There is no excess sugar or over-ripening. Harvesting, often by hand, takes place between late August and mid-September, and each parcel is picked at just the right point to ensure a balance between natural acidity, moderate alcohol content and varietal expression.
Big, but with head (and soul)
Despite its scale - Codorníu produces millions of bottles a year - the winery has been surprisingly agile in adapting to changing times. Over the last two decades, it has embarked on a more segmented line of work, focusing on specific vineyards, on long-aged wines and on the promotion of native varieties such as Xarel.lo, Macabeo and Parellada. While other houses fell into the temptation of flooding the market with young cavas without identity, Codorníu opted for the development of its Ars Collecta range, where it works with ageing of more than 30 months, minimum dosage and a clearly gastronomic profile.
Its style: elegance without shouting
The house style has always been more about elegance than power, more about texture than sweetness. Unlike many oxidative and heavily aged Catalan cavas, Codorníu cavas tend to show white fruits, dried flowers, fine brioche notes and an integrated bubble, more creamy than aggressive. This is no coincidence: long ageing on lees -some labels are aged for more than 60 months- allows for a slow, controlled evolution, where the effervescence becomes texture and the wine behaves more like a white wine for ageing than a simple sparkling wine.
A winery that is also a work of art
The modernist winery, one of the architectural jewels of Catalan industrial modernism, deserves a special mention. It was designed by Josep Puig i Cadafalch, a disciple of Gaudí, and opened in 1915. Its underground cellars stretch along more than 30 kilometres of hand-dug tunnels, and are not only a monument to the country's wine-making history, but also an ageing system that maintains a constant temperature and humidity without the need for mechanical intervention. There, silence and darkness shelter millions of bottles that rest for years before seeing the light of day.
When even Champagne was watching from the sidelines
Among its most unique anecdotes is that of its key role at the turn of the century, when many Champagne houses began to look askance at the quality of Catalan sparkling wines. Codorníu responded not only by maintaining the traditional standard of production, but also by investing in R&D, promoting studies on indigenous yeasts, optimal stirring times and closures that would allow ageing without premature oxidation. Far from hiding, the house assumed its role as a benchmark, even when that meant moving into uncomfortable terrain.
Tradition and avant-garde, without contradiction
Today, Codorníu moves between two worlds: the world of large volume, yes, but also the world of plot wines, regenerative viticulture and experimental microvinification. Few houses have managed to make this transition without losing their soul along the way. Few, too, have maintained such a clear common thread over more than five centuries. Codorníu is not a relic. It is a living, and sometimes uncomfortably modern, winery.