In Sant Sadurní d’Anoia and in the Penedès region in general, everyone knew it would eventually happen, but no one knew when. The day has arrived. The Juvé & Camps winery, from Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, has abandoned the Cava designation of origin to enter its annual production of two and a half million sparkling wines into the Corpinnat brand. After two exhaustive audits in which Corpinnat verified that the winery meets the requirements to be included, Juvé & Camps submitted its withdrawal request to the Regulatory Council of Cava last Wednesday. "We have taken a natural step, and it was a decision made with great prudence," explains the CEO, Meritxell Juvé, adding that in a company that works with the future in mind, everything is well thought out. She says this because Juvé & Camps sparkling wines have a resting period of six to seven years before they are released to the market, and because the winery is centenary. "My father is 83 years old and is aware of everything. In fact, he himself says he won't make a mistake with the words Cava or Corpinnat, because he always says he makes Juvé & Camps," says his daughter.

I interviewed the head of the room, Santi Amigó Castellví (Sant Pau d'Ordal, 1962), on the last day of service in 2025, December 29. The Cal Xim restaurant It will be closed for vacation until January 7th, when it will reopen as usual. His brother, Fidel, will be grilling; Santi will be in the dining room. This very month of January 2026 marks the restaurant's fifty-second anniversary, and Santi tells me they have plenty of life left in them. Their parents started the restaurant Xim is needed The family was founded by her grandfather, nicknamed Ximet, who had married her grandmother, Cinta. "They were both widowed during the Civil War and came together; Ximet owned this place, where we are now, and her grandmother, Cinta, got married," says Santi. As we talk, in one of the restaurant's three rooms, diners head towards her to say goodbye. No one leaves without saying farewell. That's what happens when you've become a benchmark for good food and drink in the heart of the Penedès region. Meanwhile, at the back of the room, her brother, Fidel Amigó, has started clearing the embers. In the kitchen, her sister-in-law, head chef Tona Travé, is also putting the finishing touches on today's meal.

They've been working for years, and they've finally achieved their goal. This coming harvest, all the grapes registered as the Penedès DO will be organic. This is announced by the president of the DO, Joan Huguet, just as winegrowers are preparing for the harvest. In total, this certification, the first in the world for a designation of origin, involves 130 wineries, with a total of 5,400 hectares cultivated using organic farming. "In the Penedès, there are a total of 14,000 hectares of vineyards, but they are registered under other designations of origin, such as the DO Catalunya, the DO Cava, or Corpinnat," says Huguet. By regulation, therefore, starting with this harvest, wines that wish to enter the Penedès DO must be organic; otherwise, they will be excluded.

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Winemaker Mireia Torres, daughter of Miguel Torres of Familia Torres, explains the new projects she's working on this week as the winery announced a new general manager, Fabrice Ducceschi, who has extensive experience managing family businesses dedicated to consumer goods both in Spain and in Portugal and France. This will be the first time he will lead a wine and sparkling wine company. Mireia is behind the Natureo project, a dealcoholized wine industry currently experiencing a boom. Perhaps it helps that consumption of alcoholic wines is declining to the point that global consumption by 2024 (214.2 million hectoliters) will be at its lowest level since 1961.