Never before have we come across a (non-Champagne) sparkling wine producer where the quality and unique character of the wines, not to mention the quality of the farming, match the finest growers of Champagne. Yet that is precisely what you get with Recaredo. This is not to say Recaredo’s wines taste like Champagne. No, this is the Mediterranean; the grape varieties and soils are entirely different. Even so, Recaredo’s wines convey many of the virtues that draw many of us to fine grower Champagne: intensity of flavour, unique personality and sense of place. And, of course, they taste great, too. The estate’s origins date back to 1924 when Josep Mata Capellades decided to build a cellar under his house and cultivate his own vineyard in Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, a village in the heart of Catalonia’s Alt Penedès region. He called his new winery Recaredo after his father, Recaredo Mata Figueres. From humble beginnings, Mata grew his holdings while forging his distinctive style, pioneering the production of brut nature sparkling wines, using oak barrels and crafting extended lees-aged wines with the Xarel·lo grape variety. Mata’s sons pressed ahead in their father’s footsteps, and today, it is his talented grandson, Ton Mata, who heads up the winery. Recaredo is a pioneer on many levels; not only was it the first producer in the Penedès region to be certified biodynamic (in 2010), but it uses exclusively estate-grown fruit, and all the grapes are picked by hand and vinified in its own cellars. Ton Mata’s philosophy has long been about crafting wines of place rather than conforming to a particular style. For this reason, Recaredo left the sprawling Cava D.O. in 2018 to join Corpinnat, an organisation of 12 quality-focused growers that functions like its own appellation. Including organic farming, Corpinnat’s manifesto includes arguably the strictest guidelines overseeing any sparkling production in the world. Crucially, the syndicate includes only wineries farming in the heart of Penedès—a region whose traditional-method sparkling wine history dates back to the end of the 19th century. As you can read in our producer article, Recaredo’s practice in the vineyard and cellar is second to none. The vineyards lie within 25km of the cellar in Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, an area of predominantly calcareous soils dominated by the Montserrat Mountains. Xarel·lo accounts for 60% of Recaredo’s plantings, and the vines are dry-farmed, often ploughed by horse and contain many old vines dating to the 1940s and ’50s. The work in the cellar is no less exacting, down to native yeast fermentations, hand-riddling and manual disgorgement of each bottle. Importantly, the wines draw their unique character from low yields—often half the quantity allowed under the Corpinnat banner—and extended lees aging. Even the entry-level Terrers spends at least 30 months on lees, rising to an Egly-like 12 years for the top cuvée. All of Recaredo’s wines stem from a single vintage and are bottled without dosage. And like all the world’s great fizz, they are first and foremost wines; they come into their own at the table. “These are more than just sparkling wines—they are long-aged white wines. The bubbles must allow you to see the wine; they must not hide the wine,” says Ton Mata. When tasting in the context of a meal, Recaredo’s wines take on another level of complexity, constantly evolving with air, leading you on a journey of flavour and intricacy. We fell in love with these brilliant, distinctive wines in Spain last year. We hope you will follow suit.