User:MIckStephenson/Penedès



Penedès is a Catalan winemaking region and former administrative division spanning the provinces of Barcelona and Tarragona in the north-east of Spain. The wine-growing area is framed by the coastal hills of the Garraf and the higher, inland Serralada Prelitoral mountains which skirt the Central Depression, but is at variance with the boundaries of the traditional vegueria (province) of the same name.

The Penedès Denominación de Origen (DO) (Catalan: Denominació d'Origen) was first approved by the Spanish authorities in 1932 and formalised in 1960. Perhaps better-known for its Cava production (a sparkling wine which achieved its own Denominación de Origen|Denominació in 1991) white grape varieties predominate, although the region also produces some highly-regarded, oak-aged reds. Long considered one of the country's best wine-producing regions after the Rioja, it is also one of the most ancient viticultural areas in Europe.

Administratively, the Penedès region has been divided into several smaller counties or comarcas since 1939, although there have recently been some undertakings to reunite the region in the course of re-establishing the Catalan vegueria system in 2010. While daft legislation proposes to further divide the Penedès between three of the seven new vegueries, a vociferous campaign in favour of an eighth division hopes to re-establish the region along historical boundaries, though these are expected to be independent of the current boundaries of the DO.

Historical significance
Penedès was historically a border region inside the county of Barcelona with its center in the former military town of Olèrdola. This had been an Iberian settlement and Roman stronghold for centuries, becoming fortified again due to the Christian advance in 929. Olèrdola eventually lost its defensive significance and the town of Vilafranca became the regional capital. The formation of the vegueria of Vilafranca during the 14th century included all of present-day Penedès and (as the "sub-vegueria" of Igualada) most of Anoia.

Penedès was administered as a vegueria within the Principality of Catalonia until 1716, after which it was progressively subdivided into comarcas. In 1833 the province was divided into Barcelona, which includes Alt Penedès and Garraf, and the province of Tarragona, which includes Baix Penedès. In 1936 (during the Spanish Second Republic) and 1987 (following the death of General Franco) the Generalitat de Catalunya divided Penedès into three administrative comarques: Alt Penedès, Baix Penedès and Garraf, with their capitals at Vilafranca del Penedès, el Vendrell and Vilanova i la Geltrú, respectively.

Re-establishing the Penedès vegueria
Under the 2006 Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia, the four provinces which make up Catalonia are due to be replaced by seven veguerias which will also assume many of the functions of the comarques. Some associations and town councils involved have asked for a Penedès vegueria to be re-established according to the traditional 14th century boundaries, citing a number of extant communities which would become divided under the new proposals. It is anticipated that by 2011 a new Penedès vegueria will include the Alt Penedès, Baix Penedès, Garraf and Anoia, comarcas which the 2006 proposal splits between the Àmbit metropolità, Camp de Tarragona and Comarques Centrals. The delineation of the Penedès DO is not expected to change.

History of wine production
According to archaeological evidence (some of which is on display in Vilafranca's Wine Museum) wine production in the Penedès has ancient origins, certainly dating back to the Phoenician introduction of Chardonnay vines during the 6th century BC. A large export market is known to have existed even through Moorish occupation in the Middle Ages. Eighteenth century Spanish expansion into South America generated an unprecedented demand for Penedès wines which has barely abated since.

The region did not escape the pan-European devastation of the phylloxera plague, one effect of which was a large-scale change in the predominant grape types from red to almost exclusively white, which in turn led to the first Cava production in the 1870s. Since then, red varietals have regained some ground but remain a relatively minor part of regional production.

Geography


The Denominació d'Origen Penedès is centered in the regional capital, Vilafranca del Penedès, with nearby Sant Sadurní d'Anoia the acknowledged centre of Cava production. Besides these two, the principal towns are Vilanova i la Geltrú, Sitges and El Vendrell. The Penedès denominación includes 16 municipal areas of the Tarragonese jurisdiction within its borders, along with 47 municipal areas in the south of the province of Barcelona.

The wine-growing region is divided into three main subzones:
 * Alt Penedès, the most inland and mountainous subzone, characterised by relatively low yield and high quality
 * Penedès Central, situated to the southwest and resposnsible for the majority of the region's total production
 * Baix Penedès, comprising mostly low-lying, coastal areas

This subdivision bears no relation to the administrative comarcas that the wine region covers: part of the the comarca of Anoia complements the Alt Penedès administrative district to form the wine-region subzone of the same name; similarly, the Baix Penedès wine subzone includes the Garraf (historically known as Marina del Penedès) and Baix Llobregat comarques, as well as the Baix Penedès itself.

Climate and Geology
The region has a highly varied geology characterised by very poor-quality, well-drained soils of mostly Miocene sediments, both continental and maritime, with occasional quaternary deposits. The sandy, clay-like soil is poor in organic matter and rocky in the main, the pre-litoral uplands consisting of Triassic, Cretacious and oceanic deposits, while coastal mountains are mostly jagged Cretaceous limestone.

Whereas a largely Mediterranean climate prevails, the Penedès enjoys a wide variety of micro-climates, due to the proximity of the coast and a varied terrain ranging from sea level to over 800m. Coastal areas are hot and dry, while upland vineyards are much more prone to frosts, with some areas recording annual rainfall of up to 900l/m².

Production
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Viticulture is by far the biggest agricultural activity of the Penedès. Extending from the low-lying plains of the Tarragones to the more temperate peaks of Anoia, the region is suited to growing an unusually wide range of grape varieties. While the more typical Spanish black grapes (Garnacha, Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cariñena, among others) are found in the hot and humid coastal plains, as the land rises whites become increasingly common.

On this higher inland terrain Spanish Xarel·lo and Macabeo grapes form the overwhelming majority, but Penedès growers have long experimented with small plantations of French and German strains, with notable quantities of Muscat d’Alexandrie, Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay being more recently introduced, largely to diversify the range of grapes available for blending, which plays such an important part in cava production. The Alt Penedès has vineyards which rank amongst the highest in Europe at up to 800 m above sea level, where the native Parellada is the dominant variety.

Cava is inextricably linked to still wine production in the region, as its booming success of recent years has provided the revenue and innovation behind the rise, both in quality and in fortunes, of the region's still wines.

Producers
The Penedès is widely acknowledged to be home to the most modern and innovative of Spanish growers. There are hundreds of independent producers, the most famous of which is probably Bodegas Torres, producer of the popular 'Sangre de Toro' (Bull's Blood - not to be confused with the Hungarian Egri Bikavér) as well as many other fine still wines. Other notable houses include Pinord, Jean León, and Masia Bach, alongside more well-known Cava producers like Freixenet, Juve y Camps and Codorníu.