Codorníu

Who they are

Codorníu is a family winegrowing house in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, in the Penedès, with more than 450 years of history and eighteen generations. In 1872 Josep Raventós made the first bottle of cava here by the traditional method using the Penedès varieties: macabeu, xarel·lo and parellada. Today it makes reserva and gran reserva cavas, including single-estate ones (paraje calificado), and the D.O. Cava recognises it for organic production.

The Modernista winery

After phylloxera, Manuel Raventós, son of Josep, commissioned the new premises from Josep Puig i Cadafalch, and the buildings went up between 1902 and 1915. Later Lluís Bonet i Garí, a pupil of the architect, extended the complex with a chapel in 1941, new cellars in 1946 and the dispatch building in 1955. You visit the dispatch pavilion with its parabolic arches, the large vat hall with vaults and skylights, the press porch and the neo-medieval tower of Can Codorníu, as well as the underground cellars. On the brick façades there is trencadís made from cava bottles. The complex was declared a historic-artistic monument of national interest in 1976 and is still in production.

What the visits are like

All visits go down to the cellars, tour them on a small train and end with a tasting. The Heritage Tour, the simplest, lasts 75 minutes and costs €25 per adult; The Iconic Tour, of 105 minutes, €30; the Ars Collecta Tour, focused on its top-range cavas, €54, and La Memoria de la Burbuja, a dramatised visit through the house's 475 years, €38. Children under 8 do not pay and ages 8 to 17 have a reduced rate. There are packages that add a menu at the restaurant La Torre de Codorníu, within the estate, which is open every day from 9:30 to 17:00.

Booking and languages

Visits are booked on their website or at [email protected], with a fixed time. Times by language and the change and cancellation conditions vary by day and type of visit, and their website does not show them consistently, so it is worth confirming them when booking, as well as the train's accessibility for people with reduced mobility. The winery is on Avinguda Jaume Codorníu in Sant Sadurní.