Codorníu, S.A.

D.O./Region:Avda. Jaume Codorníu s/n
08770 Sant Sadurní d’AnoiaAddress: (+34) 93 891 33 42 Telephone:(+34) 93 891 33 42 Fax:Email:reserves@codorniu.esWeb:www.codorniu.comFounded:1551Hectares of Vines: 3,000 hectaresWine maker: Jordi RateraTotal Production Liters: 25 million litersGrape Varieties Grown: White: Xarel.lo, Macabeo, Parellada and Chardonnay, Red: Monastrell, Trepat and Pinot NoirWines Produced:Codorníu Original, Codorníu Clásico, Codorníu Teresa, Codorníu Reserva Raventós, Codorníu Pinot Noir, Jaume Codorníu
Visits:
Monday to Friday, from 9.00 to 17.00
Saturday and Sunday, from 9.00 to 13.00
Visits should be prearranged.”
Cost per person: €2 (free for under 18).
Visits may be carried out in Spanish, English, German and French (check availability).
N.B. Check the special timetables for Easter, July, August and Christmas.Exporters in the UK and USA: UK: Codorníu United Kingdom
Webster House
Dudley Road
Royal Tunbridge Wells
Kent TN1 1LE
United Kingdom
E-mail: codorniu.uk@codorniu.co.uk
Tel.: +441892500250
Fax: +441892500290
USA: Codorníu Cava & Estates
1535 Cypress Drive
Jupiter, FL 33469
United States
E-mail: info.usa@codorniu.com
Tel.: +15617486747
Fax: +15617466056

Short history porvided by the winery

The Codorníu family’s wine business goes back to the middle of the 16th century. A document of that period states that the family had several machines and implements relating to the wine industry. In 1659 Anna Codorníu married Miguel Raventós and the families, each with a long wine tradition, were united. Years later, in 1872, Josep Raventós produced cava for the first time in Spain using the “Traditional Method” and established a completely new industry in the Penedés region.
The Codorníu cellars at Sant Sadurní d’Anoia were built on the orders of Manuel Raventós between the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century (1895-1915). At that time Codorníu was producing about 100,000 bottles of cava per year, and the size of the new structure seemed overly grandiose. The location of the winery, then some …

1996 Mestres Cava Brut Nature Millessimé - Spain, Cava (9/18/2006)Great wine, deeper in color than most showing golden(rich) and with super fine bubbles. The nose was pure lemon confit to me with hints of green peach, vanilla and light caramel. Might have been a bit oxidized. In the mouth it is soft and creamy with a pleasent Wit-beir quality. Lots of lemon, and secondary development of caramel, wood, and vanilla. Finish is lingering and soft. Quite tasty.

N.V. Brianda de Aragón Cava Brut Nature Reserva - Spain, Aragón, Cava (5/20/2006)Light greenish yellow tinge with small vibrant bubbles. Austere nose with a grassy metallic aroma which could be interpreted as minerally. Light honey flavor with strong overtones of slate and white flowers. I personally don’t find this wine as intriguing as i would have hoped. It feels as if the wine is hiding behind itself and won’t come forwards.

N.V. Albet i Noya Cava Barrica 21 Brut Reserva - Spain, Catalunya, Cava (6/30/2006)78% Chardonnay and 22% Parellada - Organic WineLight yellow/green hay color. Strong yeast and caramel aroma on the nose with a nuttiness that creeps up near the end. The palate is extremely tart to me with asparagus, green pepper and green apple flavors. Medium to high acidity and a light to medium body.

The other night I was helping a friend out at her restaurant where they were hosting a large office party. To start off the evening everyone had a choice of either a Cosmopolitan or a glass of Cava. For the first half hour people milled about drinking their beverage of choice and losing their glasses only to request a new glass. As the night progressed I heard something that gave me pause,”Have you seen where my glass of Champagne has gone?” One gentleman mentioned to another, “Champagne? Didn’t they mean to say Cava?” Most likely they didn’t know the difference and for that reason I will try to provide some reasons why you should ask for your cava and not your Champagne.
You see Cava is Spain’s sparkling wine, the name coming from the word for cave, which describes the vast network of caverns that house and age this noble beverage. It was in 1872 that Josep Raventós first started experimenting with producing wine in a way that was being done in Champagne France. As far as what Cava has in common with champagne, well, it sparkles and it uses the traditional method (also known as Methode Champenoise) of creating a wine. I will not go into the details of the traditional method in this article, so check out these fine resources on the method itself. “Elaboration Process” and “Methode Champenoise “.

Beyond the basic process things become very different. First, this article is in our Regional profile section because Cava is a D.O. of Spain. Not only is it a D.O., but it happens to be the only one that is tied to a practice of winemaking …

N.V. Brianda de Aragón Cava Brut Nature Reserva - Spain, Aragón, Cava (5/20/2006)Pale golden in color, very light. The nose is earthy with a woodiness that could be mistaken for cork, but give way to light wood, yeast and minerals with a touch of citrus. Nice bubble structure though a bit big. The palate is lime like with a light creaminess, some yeast, and a pleasant finish. Nice little wine.

Every dining experience tends to be made up of dozens of small choices that can dramatically change your enjoyment of a meal. Smoking or non? Eat-in or take-out? Lo-calorie salad or deep fried cheese? It may just be that I am a freak about food, but I for one agonize over every little detail of a meal and I know that I am not alone in this. But while people are capable of taking 10 minutes to decide on a salad dressing or what to bring for a potluck, when faced with the meal-breaking question of what wine to drink, they almost always go straight to the obvious choices, red or white? Whether guests in your home, or guests in your restaurant, this is the question that is usually asked, and almost always answered with any of the billion varieties of red or white still wines that are out there, as if these were the only catagories that we had to chose from.

The other night, while moonlighting as a waitress in a friend’s restaurant, I was stunned and delighted when two sophisticated women accompanied their meal with a bottle of Cava, the delicious category of Spanish sparkling wines sparkling wines. While it is not uncommon in France and Catalonia (the heart of Cava country) to accompany food with sparkling wine, it is still not a very common practice in the rest of Spain. In my experience, people here tend to order the occasional bottle of sparkling wine before a meal, but even more frequently at the end of one, to toast special occasions or to just look cool in front of their friends. Watching these women make their way through a bottle of Cava while they enjoyed their supper, reminded me of the world of wine choices that are out there, apart from the everyday choice between white and red.

So, did you do it? Did you delve deep into your cellar or find a bottle on top of the fridge that you forgot you had? Did you dig up a treasure that you had been saving without having a specific moment in mind to open it? We did!

That’s right, last Saturday night; we sat down with some good friends of ours and celebrated Open that Bottle Night, or in our case four! For us, it was a night to step out of our role as Spanish and Portuguese wine explorers. Wines of Iberia seem to be all that we have time for while living here, hence, it was a treat to open up a couple of bottles that didn’t hail from Iberia, but rather from it’s neighbors.

Slowly, I’ve been bringing over a few bottles from my cellar back in the States to have on hand for special occasions. This particular night, I brought one from Cotes du Ventoux, in France, and another one from Germany. The first one was a Rhone style blend that was elegant, simple, and fun to drink, the other a rich Icewine that had layers of caramel, honey, grapefruit, and more all wrapped up inside - both a delight to drink and a welcomed break from our typical tastings.

Another year come and gone as we head into the biggest day for consuming sparkling wines. For most people, Champagne will be the wine of choice with bright stars bubbling up in the glass as we count down to the New Year. Not a bad choice either, but we’d like to offer an alternative to this traditional drink. Cava is Spain’s answer to Champagne; and while not the same thing, it does have a lot in common with this traditional holiday drink. Created in 1872 by Josep Raventos after the phylloxera plague swept throughout Western Europe, Raventos developed a dry sparkling wine in the same manner as Champagne. Using a selection of white grapes native to the north of Spain - usually consisted of Macabeo, Parallada and Xarello grapes - Cava has become a cornerstone to Spanish wine. In fact, it continues to expand and grow, revealing new manifestations of itself with every passing year. Today, Cava is not only made in the north of Spain, but all over the country, and from grapes as diverse as Monastrell, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir - the latter two being traditional grapes found in Champagne.

But enough with the technical jargon. What it really comes down too is that Cava tends to be cheaper than Champagne, and though not the same, it does have a level of quality that can be, at it’s best, stunning. Interestingly, with the wide diversity of Cavas on the market today, if you have not taken the time to explore them, your really missing out on a treat.

Gabriella and I have recently tasted three of the more widely available Cavas to see what they had to show for themselves. In the end, none of them stood out as amazing, but I wouldn’t hesitate to serve any one of them at a festive New Years Eve party. All three of them, while a bit simple, had a character and quality that equaled their monetary value.

However, just to give you as much information as possible, Ryan has added on three other notes from Cavas he tasted during this past year.

Here at Catavino, we wish you all the best for the coming New Year and we look forwards to sharing new stories and adventures in the year to come!

Till then, Ryan and Gabriella

Ryan
N.V. Cordoniu Penedès Brut Anna de Codorniu - Spain, Catalunya, Penedès (12/22/2005)Light yellow in color with small to medium bubbles. The nose shows some yeasty notes with pineapple, though overall pretty hollow. Medium sparkle on the palate with a dry finish. Creamy in the mouth with apple, yeast, and faint honey notes. Though overall this wine is a good value, it’s still a bit boring.

Gabriella
N.V. Cordoniu Penedès Brut Anna de Codorniu - Spain, Catalunya, Penedès (12/27/2005)Light delicate yellow with medium to small semi-active bubbles. Very difficult to pick out any aromas on the nose.