The principal indigenous white grape of Penedes and the structural backbone of the Cava blend. Thick-skinned, late-ripening and high in extract, Xarel-lo carries the Cava blend's age-worthy spine and is also the variety behind the region's serious single-varietal Penedes still whites: from Recaredo's single-vineyard Turo d'en Mota Corpinnat (100 percent Xarel-lo) to Can Rafols dels Caus' Xarel-lo Pairal and Juve y Camps' La Capella. Profiles run lemon peel, white peach, fennel and chalky limestone minerality, with a glycerol-rich mid-palate and grippy texture that rewards extended lees ageing.
The most planted white in DO Cava and the volume backbone of the traditional Cava blend. Macabeo (called Viura in Rioja) brings perfumed white-flower aromatics and a softer textural lift to the trio with Xarel-lo and Parellada. Planted on clay-limestone soils between 150 and 500 metres across central Penedes, it provides early-ripening freshness and a delicate apple-and-citrus profile. Cava giants Codorniu and Freixenet build the bulk of their reserva cuvees around Macabeo; Mestres, Pere Ventura and Vallformosa also rely on it. Less ageworthy than Xarel-lo on its own, but the indispensable third of the classical blend.
The elegant high-altitude white of the Cava blend, planted on the cooler, calcareous slopes of Penedes Superior up to 800 metres in the Massis del Garraf foothills. Late-ripening with a delicate floral perfume, lime-blossom aromatics, lemon zest and a saline finish, Parellada contributes finesse and aromatic lift to the classical Cava trio with Macabeo and Xarel-lo. Gramona's Imperial Gran Reserva and Llopart Original 1887 lean heavily on Parellada; Familia Torres' Vina Sol also uses it as a still white. The grape struggles in warm coastal sites and rewards altitude.
The international white that modernised Penedes in the 1970s. Familia Torres planted Chardonnay at Milmanda in the late 1970s on the high-altitude slopes near the Conca de Barbera border; Jean Leon followed with single-vineyard Chardonnay at Torrelavit. In Cava, Chardonnay was authorised in 1986 and has since become a fixture of premium reservas and Cava de Paraje Calificado cuvees (Codorniu Ars Collecta, Freixenet Elyssia). Profiles run lemon peel, apple, white blossom and toasted hazelnut when barrel-fermented. Planted between 250 and 700 metres on clay-limestone and porphyry soils.
Authorised in DO Cava in 1998 and now a fixture of premium rose Cava and Corpinnat cuvees. Freixenet Elyssia Pinot Noir and Codorniu Anna de Codorniu Rosado helped popularise it; Juve y Camps, Gramona and Recaredo also use it in their rose Corpinnat blends. As a still red, Pinot Noir struggles with warm coastal sites but performs at altitude in Penedes Superior. Familia Torres' Mas Borras and Jean Leon Vinya Le Havre are the leading single-vineyard Penedes Pinot Noirs. Profiles run red cherry, raspberry and rose petal, with light tannin and high acidity.
Penedes's adopted international red. Jean Leon planted single-variety Cabernet Sauvignon at Torrelavit in 1963; Familia Torres followed with Mas La Plana at Pacs del Penedes in the early 1970s. Mas La Plana 1970 famously beat Chateau Latour 1970 in the 1979 Gault-Millau Wine Olympiad. Profiles run blackcurrant, cedar, graphite and dried herbs, with firm tannin and a long ageing arc on the clay-limestone soils of Pacs and Subirats.
Heritage red authorised for rose Cava and bottled as still red by a small group of revival producers. Originally a Conca de Barbera grape, Trepat has carved out a Penedes niche thanks to its pale ruby colour, raspberry and pomegranate aromatics, light tannin and bracing acidity. Sumarroca, Pere Ventura and Rovellats use Trepat in their rose Cavas; the grape rewards old vines and limestone soils. The 2017 Cava de Paraje Calificado revisions explicitly recognised Trepat as one of the heritage grapes worthy of single-vineyard expression. Drinks like a Mediterranean Pinot Noir at a fraction of the price.
Old-vine Mediterranean Garnatxa is widely planted across Catalonia and a fixture of Penedes still reds. At the limestone-rich Massis del Garraf foothills, Pares Balta, Can Rafols dels Caus and Mas Candi farm bush-vine Garnatxa on terraced slopes between 250 and 700 metres. Profiles run wild strawberry, kirsch, dried herbs and Mediterranean garrigue, with a juicy mid-palate and supple tannin. The grape also appears in heritage rose Cava and in Corpinnat rosats from Recaredo and Llopart. Often blended with Carinyena, Tempranillo or Syrah for structure.
Catalonia's revival red grape. Once widespread in Penedes and Bages but nearly extinct by the 1980s, Sumoll was rescued by a small group of growers in Subirats and Font-Rubi. Heretat Mont-Rubi pioneered single-variety Sumoll, demonstrating the grape's pale-ruby colour, bracing acidity, sour cherry and pomegranate aromatics, and the firm wiry tannin that earned it comparisons to old-vine Mencia. Naturally low-alcohol (12 to 13 percent) and a darling of the Penedes natural-wine scene. Mas Candi, Loxarel and a handful of small estates now bottle Sumoll as a varietal.