About the Producer
Recaredo has been crafting wines at Sant Sadurní d’Anoia in Alt Penedès, some 50 kilometres due west of Barcelona, for near on a century, ever since patron Josep Mata Capellades started winemaking in 1924. Today, his legacy is the Recaredo estate, named after his father, and comprises a patchwork of some 65 hectares of hillside vineyards along the Bitlles River valley. This spectacular landscape is blessed with calcareous soils, well-suited to fruit for sparkling wine production and to naturally low-yielding vines. Recaredo has farmed biodynamically since 2010 with production kept remarkably traditional whilst innovating along the way, artisanal, and unhurried. They restrict the use of pesticides, herbicides, or chemical fertilisers; and everything is done by hand. This outstanding estate is based in Corpinnat, which was previously a small zone within the Cava DO in Penedès. As the production area for Cava became so vast and the name debased, a group of nine producers, including Recaredo, left in 2019 to pursue the production of higher quality wines. After being presented with an official ultimatum to stop promoting themselves as a subset of the Cava DO, they began producing wines with Corpinnat shown on the label as is the official EU recognition. These producers focus on high quality, organically farmed, terroir-driven wines using indigenous varieties and limiting use of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Leaving wranglings about designations and appellations aside, it is easy to understand why Recaredo took this bold step; the quality of the wines they produce is a world away from what you are likely to associate with Cava. The reputation of this estate is inextricably linked to patience – each of their wines spends a minimum of two and half years ageing on its lees in bottle in their cellars, far above the minimum stipulation for Cava or indeed Champagne. Recaredo produce a fascinating range of wines with a focus on indigenous varieties including Xarel·lo. Xarel·lo brings good acidity and structure to the blend and a mineral-infused orchard fruit with slightly smoky notes. It is often blended with Macabeu, which can offer a more floral-natured fruit, with slightly more honeyed, juicy stone fruit characters.