Corpinnat producers ‘not closed the door on Cava’

The Spanish sparkling wine group Corpinnat has signalled that its producers may decide to rejoin the Cava DO in the future.

Xavier Gramona, joint president of Corpinnat, told the drinks business that the breakaway designation had “not closed the door on Cava for good,” and continued to have productive discussions with the Consejo Regulador president Javier Pages.

“Rejoining the Cava DO is certainly a possibility,” said Gramona.

“It was always my goal to change Cava from within, to forge a stronger quality image of Spanish sparkling wine. This is why the first meetings between the Corpinnat Board and the DO authorities began in February 2018.”

The body, officially known as The Association of Wine Producers and Growers Corpinnat (AVEC), announced in January 2019 that its nine members were leaving the Cava DO.

A registered EU trademark, the organisation aims to create a stricter and terroir-driven sparkling wine designation within Penedes. Their primary focus is on organic agriculture, longer ageing times and minimal use of grapes such as Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, as well as hand harvesting and no purchasing of bulk wine. The first wines bearing the Corpinnat brand will appear on the market this spring.

“We are going to think carefully about our future this year – the board must decide upon our best course of action. If we rejoined the DO, they would have to agree to allow Corpinnat to exist alongside Cava, which may not be possible,” said Gramona.

“However, Javier Pages has said he is open to further discussions. So let’s wait and see. The other option is to petition for the creation of a standalone Corpinnat DO, which would take at least 5 years.”