More movement in the Penedès wineries: Corpinnat gains two partners and adds 400,000 more bottles.

San Martín Sarroca/San Sebastián de los GorgsChanges continue at the sparkling wine production wineries in the Penedès. AT Roca, with 300,000 bottles per year, and Mas Bertran, with 150,000, notified Clàssic Penedès yesterday, Sunday, that they were withdrawing from the brand. This morning, they joined Corpinnat, which has nineteen wineries, and is already announcing that next February, for the Penedès fair, Barcelona Wine Week taking place at Fira de Barcelona, there will be more additions. If the Penedès has always been called a vibrant region, due to its bubbles, it is now more so than ever, as there is constant talk on the streets about the next changes it will undergo. Both Mas Bertran and AT Roca agree that Corpinnat is the collective brand that represents quality and commitment to the region, and above all, represents "prestige in the international market."

In it AT Roca winery, located in San Sebastián de los Gorgs, Agustí Torelló, father, he recalls that he and his sons began making sparkling wines as AT Roca in 2013 within Clàssic Penedès.In 2018/19 the Corpinnat brand started with a philosophy that we share, and we're not even a millimeter different," he says. What's more, "until now it was jarring to us that Corpinnat would accept Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, but now they've approved a moratorium on the use of these two varieties, which is until 2030, and from then on they will no longer be allowed to be made" Torelló. Now that he's part of the brand, after having passed the three regulatory audits, Agustí Torelló affirms that Corpinnat "still has more challenges pending, such as distinguishing municipalities, estates and processing plots", a distinction that they are very concerned about because they consider that the soils of the Penedès are very different and point out the scarcity.

Thus, at the AT Roca winery, Corpinnat's principles are the hallmark of the sparkling wines they produce. They vinify 100% in-house ("If you don't, you're like a restaurant without a kitchen"), they use long aging processes, they harvest by hand ("We winemakers are cooks of the grapes, and therefore, you can't spoil the shrimp, that is to say, the grapes"), and they consider the grapes... "If you have the best raw materials, like what I was saying with the comparison with shrimp, then you cook them on the grill, which is the way to make the least possible intervention." In the winemaking of sparkling wines, the culinary comparison means opting for brut nature and without expedition liqueur, among others.

Rosé and red Grenache

The winery, with 300,000 bottles annually, releases five sparkling wines, leading the rosé market. "Also in red Garnacha, which our great-grandparents made a bet on, and they weren't wrong," comments Agustí Torelló, who adds that joining Corpinnat represents a future for the father and son. "When people tell us we sell our sparkling wines at affordable prices, I always say it's a legacy of where we come from," a market that pays very low prices for the harvested grapes and then sells the bottle at similarly low prices. However, "today there's a market in the world that appreciates a job well done with sparkling wines, so everyone chooses the path they want to take; we're sticking with Corpinnat."

Meanwhile, in Sant Martí Sarroca, the co-owner of the Mas Bertran winery, Roser Carbó, also announced that they have joined Corpinnat as of today, because they believe it is the only current brand committed to the region and that enjoys global prestige. "The same isn't true of the Cava DO, because it has adopted a policy of very low prices." In fact, Carbó recalls that when she and her cousin, Eva Ventura, attended trade fairs, distributors asked them for the best sparkling wines they make at three euros. "Those are the prices at which the Cava DO sells, so they asked us for them." Back then, both she and her cousin argued why their sparkling wines couldn't be sold for three euros. "When you have to justify yourself so much, when you have to give so many explanations about the prices, you see that it can't be," says Carbó, adding that "with the Corpinnat brand, that doesn't happen because when you say you're a Corpinnat, the market knows that there's quality, long aging, winemaking in the cellar, hand-picked grapes, and much more.

At the origins of Mas Bertran, the parents' garage is a legendary place. It was 2005, and the two winemaking cousins, Rosa Carbó and Eva Ventura, joined the Cava DO, which was the only brand that existed to encompass the sparkling wines they produced. In 2012, when both cousins were considering making a sparkling wine from Black Sumoll, they ran into the prohibitive Cava DO regulations, which did not recognize the variety. For this reason, and also for others that Roser describes as general inconvenience, they decided to leave the Cava DO and join the Clàssic Penedès category, which was the former. "Corpinnat was still years away from being created, and back then, in 2012, Clàssic Penedès was the one that most reflected our philosophy," says Carbó, who adds that currently, investing in Corpinnat means "achieving international recognition for the excellent work they do in the Penedès."

All of this "hasn't been an easy decision, because we've been good partners at Clàssic Penedès," says Roser Carbó. But they've thought carefully about their decision. "We know it will be hard for us to stop saying what we do." Digging either Classic Penedès"We don't do that anymore; we're Corpinnat, and this week we'll start labeling bottles with the new brand," says Roser Carbó.

Finally, Corpinnat's president, Pere Llopart, affirms that "the brand doesn't close its doors to anyone," and that it is willing to add more wineries as long as they follow the standards it defines. For Corpinnat, the trust of winegrowers and producers also means they share the same vision for making the Penedès region a benchmark for high-quality sparkling wines. According to Pere Llopart, more wineries have now begun the demanding and lengthy audit process required for registration with the collective brand. "When they pass these audits, there will be more wineries joining forces to enhance the prestige of Penedès sparkling wines," he concludes.