Spain

Cava DO · Corpinnat · Clàssic Penedès

Spain's main sparkling wine appellation is DO Cava, a traditional-method wine that sold 190,010,000 bottles in 2025.1,2 In Penedès, the Clàssic Penedès category of DO Penedès and the private brand Corpinnat apply stricter rules.3,4

Cava and the Penedès designations

Spanish sparkling wine on this site falls under three sets of rules. All three use the traditional method, with the second fermentation in the bottle.2,4,3

  • Cava is a DO (PDO) that covers several zones of Spain, with the Comtats de Barcelona zone in Catalonia as its core.2,5
  • Corpinnat is not a DO. It is a private collective brand of an association of Penedès growers and producers, with its own regulation.4
  • Clàssic Penedès is the quality sparkling wine category inside DO Penedès.3

Rules compared

DesignationStatusMinimum on leesOrganicMaximum yield
CavaDO9 months (Guarda)2Required for Guarda Superior212,000 kg/ha2
CorpinnatPrivate collective brand18 months4Required412,000 kg/ha4
Clàssic PenedèsDO Penedès category15 months3Required312,000 kg/ha3

Scale

DO Cava sold 190,010,000 bottles in 2025, 12.88% fewer than in 2024. It had 37,299 ha of registered vineyards and 330 wineries.1 Corpinnat's 19 member wineries sold 3,000,055 bottles in 2025.6 No national total for all Spanish sparkling wine was verified for this page, so none is given.

Grapes

The core Cava varieties are Macabeo, Xarel·lo and Parellada, alongside Malvasía (Subirat Parent) and Chardonnay. Red grapes for rosé include Garnacha tinta, Monastrell, Pinot Noir and Trepat.2 Corpinnat requires at least 90% historic varieties of the area and is phasing out Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.4

Ageing categories

Since the 2020-21 reform, Cava is divided into Cava de Guarda (at least 9 months on lees) and Cava de Guarda Superior: Reserva (18 months), Gran Reserva (30 months) and Cava de Paraje Calificado (36 months).2,5 The details are on the Cava page. See also ageing minimums compared.

See also

CavaRegionsClàssic PenedèsRegionsCorpinnatRegionsCavaRegionsCorpinnatRegionsClàssic PenedèsRegionsTraditional methodMethodsXarel·loGrapesItalyRegionsPortugalRegionsWorldRegions

Sources

  1. Consejo Regulador DO Cava. Resumen datos económicos 2025 DO Cava (2026)
  2. Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación (MAPA). Pliego de condiciones DOP Cava
  3. INCAVI, Generalitat de Catalunya. Pliego de condiciones DOP Penedès (PDO-ES-A1551-AM06, December 2020) (2020-12)
  4. Associació de Viticultors i Elaboradors CORPINNAT. Reglamento de uso de la marca CORPINNAT (approved 23.03.2026) (2026-03-23)
  5. Consejo Regulador DO Cava. The BOE certifies the strict new zoning and segmentation of the Cava DO (press release) (2021-06-15)
  6. Associació de Viticultors i Elaboradors CORPINNAT. Memòria anual 2025, summary leaflet (2026)

Facts checked on 2026-10-19