Corpinnat grows to 21 producers as stricter controls loom

Corpinnat, the private certification group championing terroir-driven sparkling wines in Penedès, welcomed six new members in 2025 and a further two in January this year, bringing total membership to 21 producers.

Ten additional candidates are currently under assessment, so further announcements are expected throughout the year. The most significant entrants, however, are not expected until 2027. After that, the pace may well ease following the introduction of stricter entry requirements since last January. The most important change is the introduction of a suitability report. This evaluates whether an applicant genuinely shares Corpinnat’s  philosophy and demonstrates a clear commitment to safeguarding the integrity of the region. Approval of this report is now mandatory before the audit process can begin. This review must cover now a minimum of three harvests —one more than previously required.

At the tasting of base wines hosted by Corpinnat in Barcelona on the Sunday before the start of Barcelona Wine Week, we briefly spoke with the eight wineries that have joined since the beginning of 2025. Most arrive from DO Cava, two come from Clàssic Penedès, and a couple started out as Corpinnat members.

March 2025: Viader

In January 2025, we reported on Muscàndia's departure from DO Cava and its reinvention as Viader. Less than two months later, the winery joined Corpinnat. The move marked a significant step forward for Eduard Viader, who began in a small cellar in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia and now runs his own estate after acquiring Can Rosell de la Llena, a farmstead surrounded by vineyards in Gelida, close to Espiells. The building has been carefully restored  and converted into a winery.
With annual production of around 50,000 bottles, adjustments to the range are underway. Pinot Noir has been removed from the Tres Viles rosé, replaced by a blend of two-thirds Garnacha and one-third Sumoll. The 2025 base wine from this new blend showed freshness, citrusy flavour and tension. From 2035 onwards, international grape varieties will no longer be permitted in Corpinnat wines. Eduard is also working on a blanc de noirs pet-nat from Garnacha and Sumoll, which must be aged for at least 18 months under association rules.

Viader's Xarel.lo and Macabeo blends are seamless. Les Eretes 2023, aged for 24 months, represents strong value at around €15, offering aniseed notes and balanced flavour. La Llena Brut Nature (€25), aged for at least 36 months under cork, is more complex, with toasted notes and a fine mix of sweetness, acidity and bitterness on the palate.

April 2025: Mas de la Basserola

What distinguishes this produceris its location in Pla de Manlleu, a remote, high-elevation area of Penedès in the province of Tarragona. The winery takes its name from the main house, where the Vives family started making wine in the second half of the 20th century. Sparkling production followedin the mid-1980s, previously under DO Cava.

Parellada, known locally as Montonega, is the region's star grape variety. Guillem Vives champions the uniqueness of this local biotype that gives the grapes a faint pink hue, as well as a higher phenolic content and greater aromatic intensity. Across their 15 hectares of vineyards, located at almost 600 metres elevation, the family also grows Garnacha Blanca, Macabeo and Xarel.lo. Parellada forms the backbone of the sparkling wines. A prime example is the poised and delicate 2025 Selecció base wine, made from 70-year-old vines blending 70% Parellada, 20% Macabeo and 10% Xarel.lo.

July 2025: Celler Kripta

One of the most talked-about additions in 2025, Celler Kripta produces around half a million bottles of sparkling wine a year. Its reputation dates back to 1978, when Agustí Torelló Mata produced the first Kripta. Presented in a distinctive amphora-shaped bottle, the wine was conceived from the outset for extended ageing. In 2024, the third generation joined the business and the estate adopted the name Celler Kripta.

Although the family never released a single-vineyard cava, they remained firmly committed to local grape varieties. They also pioneered the practice of displaying disgorgement dates on labels, a requirement for all Corpinnat members today.

At the 2025 base wine tasting, they presented varietal wines made from traditional sparkling wine grapes in Penedès: a Parellada with citrus notes from high-elevation vineyards in Mediona, a Xarel.lo from mid-slope vineyards, and a barrel-aged Macabeo with toasty notes and length, destined for the estate’s Brut Nature Barrica. These three varieties are beautifully blended in the 2018 release of Icònic Brut Nature (formerly the Gran Reserva under the DO Cava, €21), which is vibrant and enveloping with  characteristic bitterness on the finish.

September 2025: Demost

Born within Corpinnat, this new producer debuts in the 2023 vintage with just over 2,000 bottles, all disgorged by hand. Pep Bages previously sold grapes to members such as Recaredo and Júlia Bernet. The project begins with 3.5 hectares in Gelida and a dedication to artisanal winemaking. The first release, Demost Arter Brut Nature 2023 (€25), is a fragrant, lively Xarel.lo with well-integrated mousse and notes of ripe Mediterranean fruit.

The 2025 base wines  appear promising: clean and juicy, with well-defined fruit. In the coming years, Pep will need to develop the range required under Corpinnat rules: a vintage brut nature aged for at least 30 months, and a second vintage sparkling wine aged for at least 60 months, which can be brut, extra brut or brut nature.

October 2025: AT Roca and Mas Bertrand

Both estates joined Clàssic Penedès at its inception in 2014 and were among its most prestigious members. Mas Bertrand is a relatively small winery producing 70,000 bottles of sparkling wine. However, the departure of AT Roca from Clàssic Penedès reduces the designation’s annual production by almost 300,000 bottles, bringing it down from just over one million.

Agustí Torelló Sibill and his son Agustí Torelló Roca (pictured below) founded AT Roca in 2013, after leaving the family estate, Celler Kripta. They settled in San Sebastià dels Gorgs, near the Ordal mountains, and have since purchased 18 hectares of vineyards while renting a further 24. A purpose-built winery followed in 2021. Drawing from his experience with pet-nats under the Ánima Mundi brand, Agustí Jr. is now exploring longer ageing. He plans to release two single-fermentation sparkling wines, aged for 18 and 30 months respectively, under the Corpinnat seal. Among the 2025 base wines, the single vineyard El Gorgs stood out for its tension and ageing potential. After 10 years of ageing, the current 2014 release is complex and wonderfully toasted.

Mas Bertrand, founded in 2005 in Sant Martí Sarroca by cousins Eva Ventura (pictured) and Roser Carbó, farms14 hectares including notably old plots, such as a 60-year-old Sumoll vineyard  destined for Argila Rosé, which is aged for at least 50 months. Many of their base wines have interesting saline notes. Current highlights include La Graua (€20), a blend of equal parts Xarel.lo and Macabeo aged for 90 months, combining creamy, toasted notes while retaining the grapes' sapidity, and the flagship Argila 2013 (€32), aged for 10 years on its lees.

January 2026: Torné & Bel and Celler Mir

Formerly in DO Cava, Torné & Bel is a small, family-run winery in Espiells with six generations of vine-growing history. Anna and Marta's father began producing sparkling wines in 1991. The family owns 12 hectares of vineyards, largely on clay-limestone soils close to the winery. However, they also grow Parellada grapes on a stony, elevated site near Sant Llorenç d’Hortons. They sell some of their grapes to other producers and use the remainder to produce around 25,000 bottles of excellent value brut nature sparkling wine. The most widely available wine is Triennium (9,000 bottles, €12.50), an easy-drinking blend of Macabeo, Xarel.lo and Parellada, the classic white varieties of Penedès, that it is aged for 20 months. It displays sweet fruit and a pleasant bitter finish with a hint of petrol. Tempus, aged for 60 months, retains floral, aniseed and citrus notes; it is serious and rich, without being overly transcendent.

Celler Mir represents the revival of Josep María Rosell Mir's project with outside investment, following his departure from DO Cava in 2019. The new partnership between Frenchmen Nicolas Marmonier and Christophe Ribeyron centres on the Mir family legacy at Can Guineu in Subirats, where wine and brandy production dates back to the 18th century. The lineage included prominent figures such as Marc Mir, former mayor of Sant Sadurní d'Anoia and a leading figure in the fight against phylloxera.

The venture now manages eight of the estate's 30 hectares and buys grapes from outside suppliers. Winemaker Xavier Ortiz has made a number of changes to the blends, phasing out Chardonnay (no longer used as of 2024) and Pinot Noir. The core brands are El Serralet, Can Guineu, and the premium cuvée Marc Mir, the most expensive in the range at around €19.