Penedès: the challenges ahead for Spain’s first 100% organic appellation

From the 2025 harvest onwards, every grape and bottle of wine carrying the DO Penedès seal will be certified organic. This milestone is one of the central goals of the Regulatory Board's 2030 Strategic Plan.

The process has involved all the major players in the appellation, from Familia Torres, a long-established producer of still wines, to Covides, the region’s largest cooperative.

“We want a higher-quality appellation,” says Joan Huguet, president of DO Penedès and producer at Can Feixes. He gives much of the credit to Josep M. Albet,  Spain’s first certified organic producer in the late 1970s and his predecessor as president of the DO between 2011 and 2019. “Albet convinced many people that organic farming works, and that the region could rise to the challenge despite its sensitivity to mildew.”

The 2025 harvest is the final step towards full organic status, given that 90% the grapes were already certified. It also helps Penedès to set itself apart from the other designations coexisting in the area. Most of the vineyards across the vast depression between Catalonia's Litoral and Prelitoral mountain ranges, spanning the provinces of Barcelona and Tarragona, are in fact destined for sparkling wines under DO Cava.

Penedès vs. Cava

Bubbles have not only reshaped winemaking in Penedès; they have also transformed its production structure. “In the 20th century, the major cava producers became the main buyers of grapes,” explains Huguet. “Growers stopped producing bulk wine and turned into suppliers, resulting in the closure of wineries. While favourable grape prices during the 1980s and 1990s enabled farmers to keep their estates, the focus on volume created overproduction, cost-cutting, and falling prices. Unlike still wine, which is far more demanding, cava dominance dictates viticulture and sets grape prices."

Out of the approximately 26,000 hectares under vine in this region, just over 13,000 were registered as DO Penedès in 2025. However, only 5,000 hectares (5,400 in the 2024 vintage) wer actually used to make Penedès wines. The lion's share goes to Cava. Other labelling options include table wine, a category that encompasses producers who left Cava to establish the collective brand Corpinnat, and DO Catalunya. The latter was established in 1999 in response to a situation verging on fraud, providing large-volume producers in the area with greater flexibility in their blends.

Nowadays, wine growers can register their vineyards under any designation operating in the region. The most common option is to register under two or three of them simultaneously. To address this, since the 2023 harvest DO Penedès has required that suitability for its wines be declared at the moment the grapes are weighed. Another  of the Strategic Plan’s objectives is to create a single vineyard register for DO Penedès, although this would require Cava to absorb the remaining surface area. As for Corpinnat, most of its members register their vineyards as DO Penedès.

Smaller size, higher quality

The 21st century has brought a contraction in production and sales for DO Penedès. Before DO Catalunya was created, sales of Penedès wines reached 50 million bottles. By 2022, when the 2030 Strategic Plan was unveiled with the goal of achieving 100% organic production, sales had fallen to 19.5 million bottles.  2024, they dropped again to 15.2 million. According to Huguet, the reasons go beyond climate conditions: “Drought is too often used as an excuse; current sales are quite a different matter”. In addition to declining consumption, there has been an exodus of producers and winegrowers unwilling to convert to organic production.

According to managing director Ricard Gil, Covides, the largest cooperative in the region, has lost some of its biggest members. “The mildew attacks of 2018 and  especially 2020 cast serious doubts on organic farming.”

Nevertheless, his team embarked on a project in 2022 to meet the new requirements for organic wine.  It was no small feat: at the time, only 100 of 1,800 ha were certified, and organic production was limited to 40,000 bottles of cava and 20,000of still wine. The conversion coincided with the worst years of drought, which slashed yields from 7,000 to 3,000–4,000 kg/ha for red varieties and from 10,000 to 5,500 kg/ha for whites. To compensate winegrowers, grape prices increased from €0.40/kg in 2023 to €0.56 in 2024, and then to €0.75 in 2024. So far, Covides has managed to certify 500 hectares, representing 27% of its total vineyard area. 

In the 2025 vintage, Covides will allocate around 300,000 bottles to DO Catalunya while releasing one million bottles of organic wine under the DO Penedès seal —a remarkable jump from the mere thousands produced in previous years. Most will be white wines, since the low prices paid for red grapes in Penedès have discouraged growers from converting them to organic farming.

Big players and young rebels

Familia Torres, the other heavyweight in the region, was ahead of the curve. It owns 282 ha of certified organic vineyards and buys grapes from 222 suppliers farming a further 900 ha. From the 2025 vintage, wines that have not yet carried the organic seal, such as Mas La Plana and Forcada, will be certified bringing the total number of wines under DO Penedès to 11. These include, among others, popular brands such as Viña Esmeralda, the new Clos Ancestral range of recovered varieties, and the premium Reserva Real red. Wines from Jean Leon, the family's second winery in the DO, have been organically certified since 2012.

Leading sparkling producers are also on board. Juvé & Camps grows nearly 300ha  organic vineyards since 2015, while Gramona has taken the extra step of obtaining biodynamic certification. Gramona also  persuaded its suppliers to follow suit, creating a cluster of 500 hectares of Demeter-certified vineyards in Penedès. Meanwhile, Familia Torres places greater emphasis on regenerative viticulture. “In the context of climate change, it makes a lot of sense, as it allows for the regeneration of the soil and the environment,” explains Mireia Torres, director of innovation and knowledge.

The younger generation of producers, active through organisations such as Vida Penedès, are equally committed to sustainability and organic farming, though less enthusiastic about the need to belong to the DO. Given this, it is understandable that the Regulatory Board has set up a business incubator in Vilafranca del Penedès to help young entrepreneurs develop their wine projects.

The planned introduction of a category for low-intervention wines, potentially debuting this vintage, is also in tune with this spirit. Roc Gramona, who represents his family winery on the Regulatory Board and who, somewhat paradoxically, does not use the DO seal for L'Enclòs de Peralba —the still wine venture he runs with his cousin Leo— is  helping to shape it. “The new category will mirror the rules of  vin méthode nature in France, with a dedicated tasting panel,” he reveals.

This involvement has already led to one wine from L'Enclòs de Peralba joining the DO, with another set to follow soon. Roc Gramona believes that the new category will prevent young producers from leaving the appellation and give both incubator projects and some Vida Penedès winemakers more confidence in working within the DO. "Although the bigger players worry it could open the door to faulty wines, the tasting panel will prevent any obvious flaws," he points out.

Sparkling wines cast a long shadow 

Clearly, the future of DO Penedès depends on more than organic certification; it will also hinge on how the sparkling wine industry evolves.

Clàssic Penedès, a category established for sparkling wine producers dissatisfied with Cava, recognises the need to create an independent seal for sparkling wines from the region. Its annual output of just over one million bottles is still smaller than Corpinnat, which produced 2.2 million bottles in 2024. The steady flow of producers leaving Cava to join Corpinnat –including Viader, Mas de la Basserola and Celler Kripta this year- seems to reinforce this argument. However, numerous political hurdles remain, and aligning producers of different sizes and philosophies will not be straightforward, since much more than quality is at stake. Should consensus ever be reached, there is little doubt that the new seal will be 100% organic.