The 11 wineries of the collective brand of sparkling wines Corpinnat closed last year growing 3.7% in volume (up to 2.42 million bottles) and 12% in turnover (25.89 million euros). Ton Mata and Xavier Nadal, the president and vice president, assure that “Corpinnat has earned a place and respect worldwide.” They add that they have established themselves as “a prestigious brand and international reference for great sparkling wines from Penedès”. In 2022, the volume of bottles marketed with more than 30 months of aging grew by 84%, and 22% reached the market with an aging period equal to or greater than 60 months. They state that “this is one of the main characteristics that differentiate Corpinnat from other sparkling wines, which has allowed the Penedès brand to be placed at the top of the pyramid of sparkling wines in the world.”
Corpinnat is made up of the Gramona, Llopart, Nadal, Recaredo, Sabaté i Coca, Torelló, Huguet de Can Feixes, Júlia Bernet, Mas Candí, Descregut and Pardas wineries. They have a total of 79 references in the market. There were up to 12 million bottles inside the Corpinnat cellars on December 31 of last year. Two thirds of its production are sparkling wines. In 2022 they exported 19.4% of their production. They expanded their international destinations in 2022 to Honduras, Slovakia, the United Arab Emirates, Serbia, Indonesia, Malta, Greece and Cyprus. But exports to Ukraine have been practically cut off. The countries that buy sparkling wines from Corpinnat have gone from 55 to 63 last year. They make a very positive reading of the results in the international markets taking into account the geopolitical and economic turmoil. On the other hand, last year the Corpinnat wineries managed to recover wine tourism visits prior to the pandemic, growing by 63%, to 34,528 visitors.
Ton Mata has stated that “this brand has existed for almost 5 years and continues to be the only proposal in Catalonia, Spain and perhaps the whole world with strict requirements for the entire company name of each winery. We believe that this has made us consolidate”. Its main requirements are to have 100% certified organic grapes, carry out a 100% manual harvest, 100% vinification on the property, bet on long aging, commit to native grape varieties and ensure a decent minimum price for the grape. (well above the price established in the regulation). In 2022, due to the significant drop in production due to the drought, they went from 77 registered suppliers to 126. The guaranteed minimum price for the purchase of grapes is 0.75 euros per kilo, but in 2022 its average price reached 0.89 euros per kilo. They have 644 hectares of their own and more than 62 leased. And they buy the grapes from 420 hectares from independent winegrowers, emphasizing long-term contracts. Corpinnat members cannot buy grape juice, wine or pointed bottles.
Ton Mata has explained that “we have asked the Administration not only to score if the wineries are attached to a designation of origin”. He assures that this fact has made them lose 400,000 euros in state subsidies offered as a result of Covid-19. They also ask the Generalitat to develop the Catalan wine law. After two and a half years with frozen negotiations, Corpinnat and the producers of the Clàssic Penedès sparkling wines (DO Penedès) have reprimanded contacts, with the mediation of the Generalitat, with the aim of creating a new DO for the Penedès sparkling wines. From Corpinnat it is stated that “we are willing to sit at the table with everyone to create a powerful and common project”. Ton Mata assures that “they have asked us for discretion, and we cannot advance anything.” Now, they continue to put the main red line, and there they see the great difficulty of closing an agreement, not giving up 100% winemaking on the property.
