Cava DO

In the second half of the 19th century several winemaking families in inland Barcelona province began making sparkling wine by what was then called the méthode champenoise, and the first bottles of cava were made in the municipality of Sant Sadurní d'Anoia in 1872. Raventós Codorníu, the producer group, credits Josep Raventós Fatjó with making the first bottle of cava by applying the traditional method to the Penedès varieties Macabeo, Xarel·lo and Parellada. The name comes from the underground cellars, or cavas, where bottles were aged after tirage; over time the word came to designate the wine itself. The name Cava appeared for the first time in an official document in 1959, a Ministry of Agriculture order of 23 April 1969 recognised Cava as the designation for sparkling wines produced in Spain by fermentation in the bottle and ageing in cellars, and in 1972 a Ministerial Order set up the Regulatory Board for Sparkling Wines. The ministerial order of 27 February 1986 demarcated the production zones, and the order of 14 November 1991 approved the regulations of the DO and its Consejo Regulador. In 2020 the Consejo Regulador unanimously approved a new zoning and quality segmentation, which the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food approved in 2021.

• 1872: the first bottles of cava were made in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia
• 1887: phylloxera devastated the vineyards of Penedès, and some of the most established winery owners decided to replace red grapes with local white varieties
• 1972: the Regulatory Council of Sparkling Wines was established and approved the denomination Cava for Spanish sparkling wine
• Chardonnay has been authorised for Cava since 1986; Pinot Noir was authorised for rosado in 1998 and has been used in white Blanc de Noir Cava since 2007

Cava is not confined to one region. Its delimited municipalities lie in the provinces of Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, Tarragona, Álava, La Rioja, Navarra, Zaragoza, Badajoz and Valencia, grouped into four Zones: Comtats de Barcelona, Valle del Ebro, Viñedos de Almendralejo and Requena. Cava is one of Spain's supra-autonomic denominations, and its area takes in seven autonomous communities: Aragón, Catalonia, the Valencian Community, Extremadura, La Rioja, Navarra and the Basque Country. The origins of Cava lie in Penedès, especially in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia and its surroundings, but for historical reasons Cava can also be made in certain other towns and regions; more than 95% of production is concentrated in Comtats de Barcelona. That Zone has five subzones (Valls d'Anoia-Foix, Serra de Mar, Conca del Gaià, Serra de Prades and Pla de Ponent) and Valle del Ebro has two (Alto Ebro and Valle del Cierzo). The soils are mostly calcareous, not very sandy and relatively clayey, low in organic matter and of low fertility, under a Mediterranean climate of transition between the milder coast and the more rigorous continental interior, with annual rainfall of around 500 mm and around 2,500 hours of sunshine.

• Comtats de Barcelona: the Catalan Zone, home to Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, considered the capital of Cava; more than 95% of Cava production
• Valle del Ebro: municipalities in Álava, La Rioja, Navarra and Zaragoza; the northernmost part of the DO, with quite cold winters and hot, dry summers
• Viñedos de Almendralejo: the municipality of Almendralejo in Badajoz province, in the Tierra de Barros region, of practically flat relief at an average altitude of between 200 and 450 metres
• Requena: the municipality of Requena in inland Valencia province, a small plateau between 600 and 900 metres, approximately 70 km from the Mediterranean

Five white varieties are authorised, Macabeo (Viura), Xarel·lo, Parellada, Malvasía (Subirat Parent) and Chardonnay, along with four red ones, Garnacha Tinta, Monastrell, Pinot Noir and Trepat. Macabeo, Xarel·lo and Parellada represent approximately 85% of the grapes used for Cava; in 2025 Macabeo covered 36.5% of the registered area, Xarel·lo 26% and Parellada 19.2%. Macabeo is the most planted variety in the DO and tends to give light, floral wine, smooth, elegant and well-balanced. Xarel·lo, with its thin skin, brings structure and body, and the Consejo Regulador credits it with a distinctive taste that marks Cava out from other traditional method sparkling wines. Parellada, the third most planted, is used above all to bring refinement and freshness and is well adapted to the higher parts of Penedès. Cava may be white or rosado. Rosado base wines must be made with at least 25% red grapes, and rosé Cava is made using the skins of red grapes, which have brief contact with the must.

• Macabeo (also known as Viura): the most planted variety in the DO, 36.5% of the registered area in 2025
• Xarel·lo: the second most planted, 26% of the registered area in 2025; the Consejo Regulador calls it the area's most emblematic variety
• Parellada: the third most planted, 19.2% of the registered area in 2025, well adapted to the higher parts of Penedès
• Rosado base wines must contain at least 25% red grapes; the authorised red varieties are Garnacha Tinta, Monastrell, Pinot Noir and Trepat

Every Cava must spend at least nine months in contact with its lees in the bottle in which the second fermentation took place. In the traditional method, the blend of base wines is bottled and tirage liqueur, a mix of yeast and sugar, is added; tirage is the name for this filling of the bottles with the base wine and the tirage liqueur, and it starts the second fermentation inside the sealed bottle. The carbon dioxide from that fermentation is trapped in the bottle and forms the bubbles. The bottles rest horizontally on their lees, then are gradually turned and tilted to a vertical position so the lees collect in the neck (riddling); the sediment is then removed, usually after the neck is frozen (disgorgement), and wine and sugar, except for Brut Nature, are added to replace the lost liquid (dosage). The whole process from tirage to disgorgement takes place in the same bottle. Cava de Guarda covers standard wines aged for a minimum of 9 months on the lees. The indication Guarda Superior is reserved for Reserva, Gran Reserva and Paraje Calificado, whose minimum time from tirage to disgorgement is 18, 30 and 36 months respectively. Grapes for these three tiers must come from vineyards at least 10 years old, certified organic from the 2025 harvest and entered in the Consejo Regulador's register of Guarda Superior vineyards, with a maximum yield of 10,000 kg per hectare for Reserva and Gran Reserva and 8,000 kg for Paraje Calificado, against 12,000 kg for Cava in general. For these three tiers, tirage may take place only after 1 January of the year following the harvest, and the vintage must appear on the label. Gran Reserva and Paraje Calificado may be labelled only as Brut Nature, Extra Brut or Brut, and their whole production must take place in the same bottle and the same winery; for Paraje Calificado the harvest must be manual and the grapes must come only from the plots that make up the paraje. The sweetness terms run from Brut Nature (under 3 g/l, no added sugar) through Extra Brut (0 to 6 g/l), Brut (under 12 g/l), Extra Seco (12 to 17 g/l), Seco (17 to 32 g/l) and Semi-seco (32 to 50 g/l) to Dulce (over 50 g/l). Finished Cava must have an acquired alcohol content of 10.8% to 12.8% vol and an overpressure of at least 3.5 bar at 20°C (above 3 bar at 20°C for bottles under 25 cl).

• Cava de Guarda (standard): minimum 9 months on the lees; Reserva: minimum 18 months (raised from 15 to 18 months in the 2020 reform)
• Gran Reserva: minimum 30 months; it may be labelled only Brut Nature, Extra Brut or Brut
• Cava de Paraje Calificado: minimum 36 months aging, single-vineyard designation, vines at least 10 years old, manual harvest, wine produced and bottled on site
• Organic rule: Guarda Superior vineyards had to be in conversion from the 2022 harvest and certified organic from the 2025 harvest; the Consejo Regulador says the Guarda Superior class became 100% organic in 2025

Freixenet is based in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, where Codorníu also has its cellars. Raventós Codorníu dates Codorníu to 1551 and credits Josep Raventós with the first bottle of cava in 1872. The Codorníu winery was built between 1898 and 1914 by the modernist architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch, and its cellars were declared a National Historic-Artistic Monument in 1976. Freixenet was a family business founded in 1914, with roots dating back to 1861. Henkell & Co. Group and Freixenet joined forces in 2018 with a 50/50 split of Freixenet shares, and on 2 March 2026 the Ferrer family and José Luis Bonet sold their remaining shares, making Henkell Freixenet the sole shareholder of Freixenet S.A. As of 1 February 2019, nine producers, among them Gramona, Recaredo, Torelló, Llopart, Nadal, Sabaté i Coca and Mas Candí, were set to leave the Cava DO and bottle under a new label called Corpinnat. The Asociación de Viticultores y Elaboradores Corpinnat was created in 2017, and at that point the nine producers accounted for only 1% of Cava production but 30% of Gran Reserva Cava production and six of the 13 Parajes Calificados.

• Codorníu: dated by its owner group to 1551; its Sant Sadurní d'Anoia cellars, the work of Josep Puig i Cadafalch, were declared a National Historic-Artistic Monument in 1976
• Freixenet: founded in 1914 and based in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia; Cordon Negro and Carta Nevada are its flagship products
• Henkell Freixenet became sole shareholder of Freixenet S.A. on 2 March 2026, after a 50/50 partnership that began in 2018
• Corpinnat rules as of 2019: 100% organic grapes, manual harvest, at least 18 months' ageing and all vinification carried out in the producer's own winery

In 2025 the DO sold 190,010,000 bottles: 40.1% in Spain, 32.9% in other EU countries and 27% in third countries, with Belgium, the United States and the United Kingdom as the main export destinations. The same year it counted 37,299 registered hectares, 6,200 winegrower families and 330 wineries, and Cava held 85.5% of premium sparkling wine consumption in Spain and 73.8% in value terms. Cava de Guarda made up 88.05% of bottles sold in 2025, Reserva 9.72%, Gran Reserva 2.22% and Paraje Calificado 0.02%; organic Cava reached 18.78% of sales and rosé Cava 7.36%. In the 2022/2023 campaign, Cava accounted for 32.03% of all Spanish DOP wine exported, followed by Rioja at 23.53%, and 18.75% of total DOP sales by volume, second to Rioja. The Consejo Regulador, based in Vilafranca del Penedès, is the DO's control body.

• 2025 sales: 190,010,000 bottles, 60% for export, with a presence in more than 100 countries
• Leading export markets in 2025: Belgium (17,549 thousand bottles), the United States (14,483 thousand) and the United Kingdom (13,816 thousand)
• 2025 registered area: 37,299 hectares from 5,957 holdings, with 6,200 winegrower families and 330 wineries
• 2022/2023 campaign: Cava made up 32.03% of all Spanish DOP wine exported, followed by Rioja at 23.53%

Primary sources (MAPA pliego de condiciones, register and DOP report; Consejo Regulador DO Cava; producer and owner-group sites): https://www.mapa.gob.es/dam/mapa/contenido/alimentacion/temas/calidad-agroalimentaria/2017-calidad-diferenciada/nuevo_denominaciones/htm/pliego_de_condiciones_dop_cava.docx, https://www.cava.wine/documents/615/Pliego_de-CondicionesDOPCAVA.pdf, https://www.mapa.gob.es/es/dam/jcr:f9643333-ef75-4a2f-8864-afd1ade63fd1/02_vinos.2026-07-03-13-01-22.pdf, https://www.mapa.gob.es/dam/mapa/contenido/alimentacion/temas/calidad-agroalimentaria/2017-calidad-diferenciada/2-etgs--especialidades-tradicionales-garantizadas/datos-estadisticos/vinos-con-dop--campanas-2000-2023/informedops2022-2023.pdf, https://www.cava.wine/en/regulatory-board/cava-designation-of-origin/, https://www.cava.wine/en/regulatory-board/cava-designation-of-origin/cava-history/, https://www.cava.wine/en/origin-cava/4-zones/, https://www.cava.wine/en/origin-cava/4-zones/comtats-de-barcelona/, https://www.cava.wine/en/origin-cava/4-zones/ebro-valley/, https://www.cava.wine/en/origin-cava/4-zones/vi%C3%B1edos-de-almendralejo/, https://www.cava.wine/en/origin-cava/4-zones/requena/, https://www.cava.wine/en/origin-cava/authorised-grape-varieties/, https://www.cava.wine/en/categories-types/cava-de-guarda/, https://www.cava.wine/en/categories-types/cava-reserva/, https://www.cava.wine/en/categories-types/cava-gran-reserva/, https://www.cava.wine/en/categories-types/cava-de-paraje-calificado/, https://www.cava.wine/en/categories-types/rose-cava/, https://www.cava.wine/en/origin-cava/traditional-method-champenoise/, https://www.cava.wine/es/ultimas-noticias-articulos/el-boe-certifica-la-exigente-nueva-zonificaci%C3%B3n-y-segmentaci%C3%B3n-de-la-do-cava/, https://www.cava.wine/documents/707/WEB_Summary_Global_Report_2025_DO_CAVA_ENG.pdf, https://raventoscodorniu.com/en/nuestra-historia/, https://www.cava.wine/en/wineries/freixenet/, https://www.henkell-freixenet.com/en/news/newsroom/detail/the-ferrer-family-jose-luis-bonet-and-henkell-freixenet-align-mutually-on-transfer-of-freixenet-shares-to-henkell-freixenet.html. Secondary sources: https://www.decanter.com/wine-news/nine-spanish-producers-to-quit-cava-do-408598/, https://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/mercosur-eu-trade-talks-wildfire-updates-austria-and-cava-hit-organic-goals. Last verified 2026-11-09