Why it matters
The producer
A notarial document records Pere Nadal’s ownership of Can Nadal de la Boadella in 1510, and the family says vines have been cultivated and wine made there ever since. Nadal is the producer rather than an appellation: its name sits on bottles ranging from Xarel·lo-based still whites to Corpinnat sparkling wine, while Corpinnat signals a Penedès sparkling category with rules for origin, organic vineyards, hand harvesting, on-site vinification and bottle ageing.
The modern Nadal winery began with a change of direction after the Spanish Civil War. The family had been distilling, then redirected the business toward sparkling wine, producing the first Nadal Brut in 1943. That decision established bottle-fermented wine as the estate’s central work, so later releases could use local grapes not merely for immediate fruit but for texture, nutty development and dry finishes gained through ageing.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Torrelavit lies in the Penedès, where Nadal works with long-established local white varieties rather than building its range around international grapes. Parellada brings floral lift and smoothness to sparkling blends, Macabeu adds fresh fruit and structure, and Xarel·lo can supply ripe fruit and volume in a bottle-aged sparkler or a more herbaceous, persistent profile in a dry still white.
Corpinnat is useful label information here. It does not replace Nadal’s name; it tells you that the sparkling wine was made within a defined Penedès framework, including a minimum of 18 months’ bottle ageing. Nadal’s own releases go further, with sparkling wines held from 30 months to as long as 26 years before release.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
For the sparkling wines, Nadal uses the traditional, or champenoise, method: the wine undergoes its second fermentation in bottle, where it develops mousse and lees-derived savoury notes before disgorgement. Long bottle ageing changes the profile from simple fruit toward nuts and broader texture, while the Parellada, Macabeu and Xarel·lo blend retains acidity and dry shape.
The still wines make a different use of the same estate material. Nadal X Blanc is made from Xarel·lo harvested in the first half of September, a timing chosen for a fresh, persistent wine with herbaceous, floral and white-fruit notes. Nadal X Vermell uses the rarer red-skinned white Xarel·lo Vermell, whose higher acidity and lightly spicy, menthol character bring a creamy but fresh profile.
Wines to know
The range in view
The sparkling range runs from Nadal Brut Reserva Original to Brut Nature and the long-aged RNG wines. Brut Nature 2017 is a dry special edition of 38,602 bottles, made from 52% Parellada, 28% Macabeu and 20% Xarel·lo from the estate harvest. RNG20 takes the cellar programme much further: it is a limited release of 1,049 magnums from the 1997 harvest, named for Ramon Nadal Giró.
Among the still wines, Nadal X Blanc gives Xarel·lo a dry, fresh-bodied form, while Nadal X Vermell turns to Xarel·lo Vermell for higher acidity, spice and creamy texture. Nadal Microvinificació Rosé is a separate estate-grape rosé project. Nadal also makes sweet wine from naturally botrytised Macabeu under the Nadal 1510 name, while Malvasia de Sitges contributes aromatic wines with jasmine, orange blossom, rose and a saline finish.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Start with Nadal Brut Nature 2017. It is a dry traditional-method sparkling wine from the estate’s own Parellada, Macabeu and Xarel·lo harvest, bottled as a 38,602-bottle special edition. Fine mousse, white fruit and nut aromas lead into a soft-textured palate with ageing notes and a dry finish. It puts Nadal’s local grapes, organic estate farming and long bottle-ageing practice into one glass without the extreme age and limited-magnum format of RNG20.