IN BRIEF
- Starting with the 2025 vintage, all Recaredo Corpinnat wines will use must from their own vineyards for the second fermentation in bottle.
- Terrers and Intens Rosat complete the transition, following experiments that began in 2013 with fresh grape must.
- Recaredo is eliminating refined cane sugar, replacing it with estate must for the secondary fermentation.
- Since 2020, the Corpinnat wines have used indigenous yeasts isolated from the vineyards, reducing reliance on external ingredients.
- Recaredo’s production philosophy aims to strengthen the bond between wine and vineyard, ensuring lees aging that ranges up to over 25 years.
Recaredo completes the path it began in 2013: starting with the 2025 vintage, all six Corpinnat wines in the range use must from the same vineyards as the grapes for the second fermentation in bottle. The change involves Terrers and Intens Rosat, the last two wines to complete the transition. The Catalan winery thus strengthens the bond between grape origin, fermentation, and territorial identity.
RECAREDO, A 13-YEAR TRANSITION
The first trials with fresh grape must date back to 2013. In 2015, Subtil became the first Recaredo sparkling wine to use must from its own vineyards for the second fermentation.
Starting with the 2017 vintage, the same practice was extended to Reserva Particular and Turó d’en Mota. At the same time, the winery completely eliminated refined cane sugar from its sparkling wine range, replacing it with must from the family’s own vineyards or with organic concentrated and rectified grape must.
The next step involved Serral del Vell, starting with the 2024 harvest. With the 2025 vintage, the transition is completed with Terrers and Intens Rosat.
The six Corpinnat wines in the Recaredo range — Terrers, Intens Rosat, Serral del Vell, Subtil, Reserva Particular, and Turó d’en Mota — now each use grapes and must for the second fermentation sourced from their own respective vineyards.
Excluded from this specific change are the Corpinnat wines produced under the Recaredo L’Infinit project, which continue to use organic concentrated and rectified grape must for the second fermentation.
TON MATA: “THE VINEYARD GIVES LIFE TO THE WINE”
Ton Mata, a third-generation member of the Recaredo family and the winery’s winemaker, links this milestone to the company’s production philosophy.
“Our commitment,” he states, “has always been to produce Corpinnat wines deeply rooted in their place of origin. Reaching the point where every wine undergoes its second fermentation in bottle using must from the very vineyard where it was born represents a natural evolution of our philosophy. The vineyard gives life to the wine and, at the same time, provides it with everything it needs to ferment again in bottle. It’s a way of taking our vision of Corpinnat wines truly tied to their terroir one step further.”
The choice aims to strengthen the relationship between wine and vineyard also through the ingredients used in the secondary fermentation that develops the sparkling wine’s natural effervescence.
INDIGENOUS YEASTS SINCE 2020
Recaredo’s approach also involves yeasts. Since 2020, all Corpinnat wines produced by Recaredo and Recaredo L’Infinit have used indigenous yeasts isolated from the vineyards and selected to start both the first and second fermentations.
Research into native yeast strains began in 1999, in collaboration with the Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Agronómica, Alimentaria y de Biosistemas (ETSIAAB) of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. The work later continued with the Institut Català de la Vinya i el Vi (INCAVI).
The use of must and yeasts sourced from the vineyards reduces reliance on agricultural ingredients of external origin and strengthens the continuity between grape growing and winemaking.
LEES AGING OF UP TO OVER 25 YEARS
After the second fermentation in bottle, Recaredo’s Corpinnat wines undergo a period of lees aging that varies by label. This ranges from 30 months up to over 25 years for the most prestigious selections in the Enoteca line.
The use of must from the winery’s own vineyards for the secondary fermentation thus represents the latest step in a journey that began over a decade ago, which includes the selection of indigenous yeasts and the gradual elimination of refined cane sugar from the sparkling wine range.
