Cava Clasico Brut

Ideal as an aperitif, accompanying dried fruits and nuts, savoury pies, assorted canapes, etc.

This prestige of Codorniu has been forged throughout five centuries. The history of the house begins in the mid-sixteenth century with Jaume Codorniu farmer and wine maker proprietor of an estate and cellar in the Penedes region. Codorniu established a new tradition in the Penedes region with the creation of cava which was destined to change the viniculture of the region and establish its name and wines throughout the world. Codorniu experienced its first expansion between the end of the last century and the beginning of this one. At first production of sparkling wine stood at about three thousand bottles but very shortly afterwards just before the First World War this was increased to three hundred thousand. This development was mainly due to the constancy of the Codorniu family and to the new elaboration methods and technology applied in the caves on many occasions created by the family; low temperature fermentation taking advantage of sugars present conservation of the musts in adequate refrigeration systems or clonal selection of the vines ancestors of those which are cultivated today in the Codorniu vineyards.

The bottles are transferred to underground cellars (with a constant temperature of 17ºC), where the second fermentation occurs followed by a period of ageing in contact with the yeast lees. In all, the wine spends at least nine months in the cellar. Subsequently, riddling and disgorging take place, during which the sediment from the second fermentation is extracted and the “licor de expedición” is added: this will determine its dosage classification. Finally, the final cork is inserted into the bottle.

The roots of the cava industry can be traced back to Josep Raventós's travels through Europe in the 1860s, where he was promoting the still wines of the Codorníu Winery. He worked for the family winery as he was married to Anna Codorníu. His visits to Champagne sparked an interest in the potential for a Spanish wine made using the same traditional method. He created his first sparkler in 1872, after the vineyards of Penedès were devastated by the phylloxera plague, and the predominantly red vines were being replaced by large numbers of vines producing white grapes. His vision was also to increase the value of the still wines being produced by his family and - turning it into “champagne” - was a simple way of doing this.