Tour guides for a day trip from Barcelona to Cava Country?

Are you aware you can DIY reasonably easily by public transportation to a number of them? Just letting you know...

Enric,
What do you recommend for a DIY trip to the area? If you could provide some specifics, that would be great!

Hi TravelBug79

A private tour, obviously, facilitates the whole experience, I mean, you don't have to worry about anything, you're "taken to", someone knowledgeable explains things, etc. If, however, your travel style -like mine- is more "independent" and you're willing to sacrifice some of that comfort -so to speak- in exchange for a little bit more adventure and self-discovery -which I find far more rewarding- you can easily DIY this visit.

Having said that, note that travelling outside a base city without a car is always more tricky as (1) you need to sync public transportation, (2) this doesn't allow to visit more than, say, a couple of vineyards -at the most!- in a day, and (3) some destinations are time-consuming to get to just to spend the day, or worst, the syncing of public transportation doesn't work for a day visit.

You mentioned Penedès, which is only one of the wine regions here in Catalonia, but you should know there are 12 wine regions -called D.Os. short for appellation of origin or geographical indication, in our language, Catalan, and pronounced "deh-oh". Each one has its own characteristics and it's located in a different area of Catalonia, portraying a rich variety of landscapes and soils, which confer the different features to the wines. Thus, for wine lovers, is always advised to plan several escapades so as to experience this variety. As an example, this would be a typical landscape of Priorat (inland), l'Empordà (Costa Brava) or Plà de Bages (central Catalonia) just to name three.

MAP: Map of DOs .

I am aware you've specifically mentioned "cava" (the Catalan equivalent to Champagne in France) but you should know the DO Cava is spread across different areas in Catalonia and albeit most producers are indeed in the DO Penedes, there are also others -quite good ones- in the right part of the DO Costers del Segre, in the DO Montsant and the DO Priorat -in between the latter two- and also in the DO Empordà, to the north of Catalonia at the border with France. Something to take into account is that from the 600+ vineyards in Catalonia, only a fraction are open to visits and from those sadly, only a few dozens are easily reachable by public transportation. Thus, assuming you're not a wine fanatic, thus you're not looking for specific vineyards or with very specific characteristics, and assuming as well your base city is Barcelona, located by the sea but equidistant in relation to the edges of Catalonia, the vineyards I would suggest to visit would be located indeed in the DO Penedès.

ABOUT CAVA

"Cava" refers to a sparkling wine made using the ‘traditional' or ‘champagne method' with secondary fermentation in the bottle. This method came to Sant Sadurní d'Anoia in the 19th century and, in 1872, Josep Raventós i Fatjó used it to produce the first 3,000 bottles of cava. Cava became widespread in Catalonia and later in Spain in the 1920s. Today, 95% of all caves come from the Penedès region, and 75% of them out of the vineyards of the town of Sant Sadurní d'Anòia. Cava is mainly linked to festive celebrations and is drunk all year round. This sparkling wine is made from a primary fermentation, after which various wines are blended. Next, this blend is bottled with a mixture of sugar and yeast, known as liqueur de tirage in order to trigger a secondary fermentation.

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A cork is then inserted and the bottles are stacked horizontally to ferment in the dark caves at a constant temperature. After the secondary fermentation, and has aged for at least nine months, the bottle undergoes a process called riddling in order to consolidate the sediment in the neck of the bottle. At the end of this stage comes the disgorging, or removal of the lees and a tiny part of the liquid. The liquid level is then topped by adding liqueur de expedition or more of the same wine, and lastly, the bottle is corked. The type of cava produced depends on the liqueur de expedition: sweet cava contains over 50g of sugar per litre; semi-dry 33-50g; dry from 17 to 35g, and brut from 0 to 15g. Cava Brut nature does not contain any liqueur de expedition. In the Penedès the most common grape varieties are Macabeu, Xarel·lo, Parellada and Chardonnay. For rosé cava the Pinot Negre and Trepat grapes are also used. The word "cava" means 'underground cellar' in Catalan.

Importantly, I don't think you should be looking to compare cava to champagne. It's true that cava is made by the same method, with its secondary fermentation in the bottle, and was even called champagne until 1970, but I would argue that it is softer and easier to drink, especially with food than champagne, which is more acidic. That is why cava is so popular in our tapas bars.

The sector produced 245 million bottles of cava in 2016, with a total turnover of 1.2 billion euros. In 2014, total cava exports (154 million) surpassed already those of champagne in France (149 million). The main export markets are located in Europe: Belgium, Germany, France and the United Kingdom and elsewhere, the US and Japan, but the cava is also exported to 130 countries around the world. The biggest cava producers are Freixenet and Codorniú, both located in Sant Sadurní d'Anòia, easily reachable by train from Barcelona in under an hour. Both companies have their HQs located in this town albeit they run vineyards spread not only in Catalonia but in parts of Spain and around the world (ie. in Napa Valley in California or in different countries in South America among other). Both companies are family-owned and have been suppliers to several Royal Houses in Europe for a long time.

FREIXENET ("fra-sha-net") HQs is located across the station in Sant Sadurní d'Anòia. The company was founded in 1861, it employs 2000 people and produces 172 million bottles of wine and cava every year, exporting to 142 countries and with a turnover of over half a billion euros (2016). The name derives from "Freixenada", a farm rich in ash trees (freixes in Catalan) that belonged to the Ferrer family, owners of the company, for many generations. Freixenet is the world's leader in the market of cava, producing over 100 million of bottles (40% of the total production of cava in Catalonia. [Video]

CODORNIÚ ("koh-door-nee-oo") HQs is located in the outskirts of the town, in Sant Sadurní d'Anòia, at a mile from the station. Walking there is possible, albeit there's a stretch in which you'll walk on the hard shoulder of a small country road, but for comfort, you can grab a taxi at the station instead. The company was founded in 1551, being today one of the oldest family-run companies in the world, and has been run by 18 generations already. The HQ is located in a magnificent Modernista building designed by the Catalan architect and politician Puig i Cadafalch, one of Barcelona’s favourite architects for which in this year, 2017, his 150th anniversary is celebrated in many institutions around the world, from Harvard to la Sorbonne in Paris.

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He's author among other of the Casa Ametller, Casa Martí, Casa Terrades, Casa Macaya or Palau Baró de Quadras in Barcelona -some of which are open for public visits. In 1976, the building was declared "National Monument of Historical and Artistic Interest". The group employs 900 people, exports 45% of the production to 90 countries and has a turnover of just under 250 million euros (2016). These figures, however, will be altered this year because Codorniú has decided to stop producing for third-parties, which accounts for 20% of the total. Among others, several of the brands sold at giants Sainsbury and Tesco supermarkets in the UK are produced by Codorniú. [Video]

Although both companies offer very interesting tours to their estates, I personally prefer a visit to Codorniú's older and more 'dramatic' underground cellars, which is topped by the superb artistic building above mentioned. Over 150,000 people visit their HQ every year. Both visits take around 90' and end up with a taste of one of their caves (note: caves is the plural for cava. In Catalan language plural forms end with -es)

In both cases, pre-booking is necessary:

• Freixenet
• Codorniú

Getting to Sant Sadurní from Barcelona is easy: from Barcelona-Plaça Catalunya train station, located at the heart of the city, with trains every 30 minutes (in summer) and the journey lasting under 1h. No need to pre-book as it's a commuter line, just turn up at purchase on-site, at the ATMs (faster!) or at the manned booths. But you can check schedules here (pdf) -pages 1 and 3 for the outgoing trip, and 2 and 4 for the return- note these are summer schedules. For live schedules, check this website instead, also if you depart from a different station.

For a full day escapade, I strongly suggest to make it on a Saturday and pair this visit with a stop in the nearby town of Vilafranca del Penedès, the capital-city of the 'comarca' (county). Besides having different museums and architectural routes -as well as visits to other vineyards in this town-, Saturday morning sees the celebration of an open-air fresh food market by the farmers of the area which covers the centre of the town with colourful stalls of all sort of products, from fruit to vegetables to fish to mushrooms as well as other non-food products. From the station, you need to walk 5' to the area where the market is celebrated.

Both Sant Sadurní and Vilafranca are on the same train line (R4), in fact, they're just 3 stops away from each other -less than 15'. I recommend planning a visit to the market in the early morning, have lunch and then visit one of the vineyards in Sant Sadurní d'Anòia. For Freixenet, I think they only offer visits in the morning (not sure though!) and I know Codorníu offer visits in English in the morning, at 11 am and also at 3:30 pm. In any case, do check this up with whatever vineyard you decide to visit so to make sure you can sync both visits, the market and the vineyard, with enough time.

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For info... Codorniú produces the most expensive cava in the world, the Ars Collecta 456, a cava with over 90 months of ageing. And if you want to be one of the only 500 lucky ones owning one, it'll simply take you back a bit over 175€ per bottle, not that bad, huh?, especially when compared to its brother the champagne, some perched above 2000€ per bottle -this is for wines available in the shops, and excluding super-rare special editions, of course!

Enjoy... and drink with moderation!

...

Seriously! drunkness onboard a train (upon your return to Barcelona) can be prosecuted and you can get a fine. In practice is highly unlikely -unless you're totally wasted and causing trouble!-, but the law is there.

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We visited Freixenet a few years ago. It is a huge operation - the tour was very informative and followed by the opportunity to taste several of their cava's. They produce mass produced cava as well as their "Real Reserve" - which is still hand turned. (and delicious)

This one tour was a good half dfay including travel time, you can book ahead online, and thet are literally steps from the train station

We had a wonderful afternoon from Barcelona by car to Sant Sadurni d'Anoia and the Codorniu Cellars. As Enric says, the journey can be just as easily made by train from BCN. The guided tour with the modernist buildings at Codorniu is exceptional and there are some great little restaurants in town. Codorniu Classico cava is readily available and is also quite cheap here in Australia.

To your health!

Salut i força al canut!

In addition to Enric's excellent post (as always) you have these combined tickets ( return train trip+entrance) to Torres or Freixenet. These tickets are bought the same way Enric has described, pressing the button "Bitllets combinats (combined tickets)". Remember to email Torres or Freixenet if intending to buy those tickets.
http://rodalies.gencat.cat/es/nou-bitllets-combinats/freixetren/
http://rodalies.gencat.cat/es/nou-bitllets-combinats/tren-de-les-vinyes/

Enric,
Thank you so much for the detailed information! I really appreciate your insight. Thanks as well, to the others who posted their ideas. We are looking forward to this portion of our trip!