Well, this is a bit next-level niche. Corpinnat isn’t even an appellation, and something I wasn’t even aware of until relatively recently, even though it’s been going since 2017.
Mind you, it’s just a handful of growers and tiny production. This team of terroir-obsessed Catalan fizz fanatics has only just added its 14th member.
So why care? Well, it’s always notable when you get a breakaway group of super-ambitious, quality-obsessed producers working hard to transcend the perceived limits of their appellation or category. In this case, Spanish sparkling wine.
Briefly, Corpinnat effectively means the heart of Penedès, and encompasses a demarcated zone in the rocky cradle of the traditional Cava-growing area. From there, it’s all about the stringent, self-imposed production constraints aimed at ensuring world-class quality in every sense.
My introduction to Corpinnat came via Ton Mata, the thoroughly impressive third-generation vigneron at Recaredo. His wines stopped me in my tracks, actually, and you can learn a lot about the movement from the family’s website, and more via Corpinnat itself.
The wine I look at in this video is Recaredo’s 2019 Terrers cuvée, which is imported into Australia by Bibendum (for whom I also write) and comes with an RRP of AUD $99. As with many a top grower Champagne, to which this compares favourably, all the information is on the back label: the disgorgement date (29/06/23), the total time on lees (39 months), the dosage (0 g/L).
On top of this, the Corpinnat designation tells me that it’s made and aged on an organic-certified estate and contains at least 90% traditional varieties. In fact, Recaredo only uses Mediterranean varieties and the breakdown here is 57% Xarel·lo, 25% Macabeo, 17% Parellada and 1% Monastrell.
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