Why it matters
The producer
Codorníu's defining act happened in 1872, when Josep Raventós Fatjó applied the traditional method to Penedès grapes and made the first bottle of cava associated with the house. The method uses two fermentations, giving the wine its sparkling form and a creamy texture that sits beside the fruit of Macabeo, Xarello and Parellada.
The house now presents more than 450 years of wine and cava production, with a history reaching back to 1551 and a family heritage described across 18 generations. Those dates are part of the wine's shape, because Codorníu still places the original varieties and traditional method at the centre of its core Brut range.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Codorníu makes its cavas in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, the town named in the house history as the home of its cellars. The grapes are selected from Codorníu's own vineyards under sustainable-viticulture guidelines, linking the bottle to the producer's farming rather than to an anonymous fruit supply.
The historic address also carries a visible cellar consequence. Architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch designed and constructed the winery, and the cellars were later declared a national historic monument for their cultural interest. The building belongs to the production story: traditional-method cava is made and aged in a place built specifically around wine.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
Codorníu selects cava grapes from its own vineyards and farms under sustainable-viticulture guidelines. The later organic conversion changes the agricultural basis of the fruit, while the traditional method governs what happens after harvest. Two fermentations turn the base wine into sparkling cava and support a creamy texture.
The cellar itself carries the producer's history. Puig i Cadafalch's winery was built between 1898 and 1914 and later received national historic-monument status for its cultural interest. Wine, architecture and method meet in the same place, with the cellar providing the setting for the bottle's second fermentation and subsequent development.
Wines to know
The range in view
Codorníu's range begins with traditional-method cava made around Penedès varieties. Cuvée Original Brut Ecológico occupies the core position: a Brut sparkling wine using the original proportions of Macabeo, Xarello and Parellada, with organically farmed grapes. Its profile is fruity and floral, while the two-fermentation method brings persistent creaminess and a rounded sparkling texture.
Anna de Codorníu Brut provides a separate standard Brut expression with its own composition and sensory profile. It belongs beside the Cuvée Original in the range, but it is not the same wine as the organic bottling. The distinction matters on the shelf: one bottle carries the original blend and organic farming story, while the other represents Anna's separate house expression.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Codorníu Cuvée Original Brut Ecológico is the first bottle to open. It is a Brut cava made from the original Macabeo, Xarello and Parellada proportions, with organically farmed grapes. In the glass, fruity and floral aromas lead into a sparkling palate with persistent creaminess, while the two-fermentation method supplies the texture that separates traditional-method cava from a simply carbonated wine.