Why it matters
The producer
Torelló holds one of the more durable ownership records in Catalan wine. The Can Martí estate in Gelida, in the inland hills of Alt Penedès, has been in the same family since 1395, when a Lord of Gelida transferred the land, then called Mas de la Torrevella, to ancestor Jaume Miquel. Over the following six centuries the family surname changed repeatedly through marriages before settling on Torelló in what are now the 21st and 22nd generations. A hundred and seventeen archival documents track that continuity.
For most of that span the estate was agricultural land. Josefa Llopart and Francesc Torelló, the 20th generation, changed that in 1951 when they began producing sparkling wine under the family name rather than selling harvested fruit and bulk wine as their predecessors had done. The sparkling tradition they started continues at the estate, built on the three classic Catalan white varieties and aged underground in 5,500 square metres of subterranean cellars carved beneath the property.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Gelida sits in the Alt Penedès, the inland plateau of Catalonia southwest of Barcelona. The Alt Penedès rises behind the coastal range at elevations that bring cooler nights and a longer growing season than the maritime lowlands. That temperature range lets the indigenous white grapes, Macabeo, Xarel·lo and Parellada, ripen slowly and hold their acidity, which is the physical basis of the sparkling wine style here.
The Can Martí estate sits within this landscape as a single, contiguous property, which is relatively rare in a region where vineyard fragmentation is common. All 80 planted hectares are farmed organically and harvested by hand. The still red wines carry the Penedès denomination; the sparkling wines now carry Corpinnat.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
The 80 planted hectares at Can Martí are farmed without synthetic pesticides, herbicides or fertilisers, certified organic since 2014. Hand harvesting across all parcels is a Corpinnat requirement and an estate standard. The combination of manual selection and organic viticulture gives the harvest team direct control over fruit quality at picking, which matters particularly for long-aged sparkling wine, where damaged or underripe grapes cannot be corrected later.
Underground, 5,500 square metres of subterranean cellars maintain a stable, cool temperature through Gelida's warm summers. The Tradicional Brut Nature undergoes poignettage during its 48 months on lees. Poignettage is the manual turning and tilting of bottles to work the spent yeast toward the neck before disgorgement; it is slower and more labour-intensive than the gyropalette machines used in most Cava production. No dosage is added after disgorgement. Brut Nature means the wine carries whatever residual sugar the fermentation leaves, with none supplemented.
Wines to know
The range in view
The range divides between Corpinnat sparkling wines and still wines under DO Penedès.
The Tradicional Brut Nature is the flagship. It blends 48% Macabeo, 34% Xarel·lo and 18% Parellada. Macabeo contributes floral character and roundness; Xarel·lo adds body and aromatic depth; Parellada brings freshness and a faint herbal note. The wine spends 48 months on lees, building autolytic complexity before disgorgement. The straw-yellow colour and persistent fine bead are visible in the glass before any aroma.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Start with the Torelló Tradicional Brut Nature. It is a Corpinnat sparkling wine built from 48% Macabeo, 34% Xarel·lo and 18% Parellada, aged 48 months on lees with no added dosage. The colour is straw-yellow with a fine, persistent bead. On the nose: pear, white fruit, pastry cream, candied fruit and a thread of white flower. In the mouth the acidity is firm and the mousse is delicate; the lees richness is balanced by the dry, clean finish. No sweetness is added, so what the glass shows is the direct result of the grape blend, the organic farming and the time in the cellar.