The road to where Pepe Raventós is now is neither obvious nor straightforward. Born into one of Catalonia’s most storied wine families – linked to the very origin of the region’s sparkling wine tradition – he didn’t set out to become the heir of his family’s legacy.

But a combination of business challenges, a sense of duty and a late-found vocation brought him back to take the helm of Raventós i Blanc.

From a place of inevitability, defined by necessity, he built an idiosyncratic path, eventually becoming a brand himself – not least through much-touted collaborations with actor Cameron Diaz and chef and restaurateur José Andrés.

Today, ‘Pepe Raventós’ stands for stubborn advocacy of sustainability and down-to-earth sophistication. Behind the name, there’s a man who perhaps defied even the expectations he had for himself while embracing a lineage of innovative and entrepreneurial dissent.

Scroll down for five wines from Pepe Raventós

Groundbreaking ancestry

Having lived on the grounds of the Raventós estate of Can Codorníu, just outside Sant Sadurní d’Anoia (the epicentre of Spanish sparkling wine production), since at least 1497, the Raventós family is itself, arguably, part of the terroir of Penedès, so inextricably linked is it with the establishment and development of its viticultural identity.

The estate’s 90ha have been farmed for more than five centuries with the expected combination of Mediterranean crops – cereals, olive trees and of course grapes – amid woodland. However, a pivotal moment – for the family and the region – took place in 1872.

Following a trip to Champagne, Josep Raventós i Fatjó (1824-1885) decided to produce Spain’s first sparkling wine re-fermented in bottle, at Can Codorníu using the estate’s Xarel·lo grapes. This small step eventually led to the creation of the Cava powerhouse that took the name of the family’s homestead.

Josep’s grandson, Manuel Raventós i Fatjó (1893-1977), alongside his wife Montserrat Blanc, steered the company throughout the troubled first decades of the 20th century, laying the groundwork for their son’s momentous leadership.

With Josep Maria Raventós i Blanc (1922-1986; Pepe Raventós’ grandfather) at the helm, Codorníu expanded spectacularly during the 1960s and – largely thanks to his efforts, and with him as president of the Consell Regulador del Cava – the Cava DO was created in 1972.

Start of something new

However, disillusionment set in as the brand (and appellation) grew in volume and the connection with both terroir and the growers withered.

Raventós i Blanc eventually sold his share of Codorníu and, alongside son Manuel Raventós i Negra (b. 1947), founded Raventós i Blanc in 1986, hoping to give terroir and sustainable viticulture renewed prominence.

Josep died just a few days before his namesake winery opened, leaving the project solely in Manuel’s hands – until Pepe joined in 2001.

Father and son then became accomplices in a relentless quest to bring the sense of place of their sparkling wines to the fore, which culminated in the company’s desertion from the Cava DO and the creation of Conca del Riu Anoia – a proposed new DO of which Raventós i Blanc remains the sole producer – in 2012.

Unintended heir

Growing up, it wasn’t Pepe Raventós’ intention to join his father at the family estate. As the 21st generation of one of Catalonia’s foremost wine families, he wasn’t sure what made him tick. He went on to study business administration at Esade in Barcelona, ‘because that’s what those who don’t know what they want [to do] study’, Pepe says.

After completing a Masters in international management in the US, Raventós joined Catalonian residential care company Grupo SAR, overseeing marketing and sales. Although this allowed him to combine his academic training with a passion for social work, the family legacy came knocking.

Both his father and the business were going through a difficult period (which had already forced the sale in 1989 of Château La Fleur d’Aiguilhe – renamed Château d’Aiguilhe following the sale – a sister estate in the Côtes de Bordeaux), and Pepe was asked to step in – and up.

The rest, as they say, is history. Pepe sought the improvement of his wine knowledge, first with a two-year sommelier course at Barcelona’s hospitality school, then a Masters in viticulture and oenology at Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

Internships with the likes of Loire maverick Didier Dagueneau, Hubert Lamy (St-Aubin, Burgundy) and Gaston Chiquet in Champagne followed.

These experiences lit the flame he’d been missing in his earlier years – and allowed him to develop a personal ‘philosophy’ through learning, untethered to inherited assumptions. ‘It’s a journey to produce ever-better wines that started back then and continues,’ he says. ‘It’s an ongoing process of learning and discovery.’

Back to basics

Carving his own place and persona upon his return to the Raventós estate – where he now oversees all aspects of the business – was informed both by his family’s indelible and complex legacy and his own unorthodox path.

‘Everything is evolution. The way of understanding our land and history and how to interpret the potential of our soils, varieties – all this has evolved since I joined,’ Pepe explains. ‘But the [Raventós i Blanc] project rested, from its inception, on two pillars: quality and activism.

When my grandfather left Codorníu and my father built the winery at our historical estate, the goal was always quality, based on the belief that we have a terroir [for sparkling winemaking] that is as good if not better than Champagne’s.’

At Raventós i Blanc, Pepe took his father’s focus on sustainability several steps further, championing biodynamic practices and regenerative agriculture. ‘What I’ve done is to overcome a period of “confusion” [in the Spanish wine industry] focused merely on productivity, and bring us back to the ancestral way of working and understanding our land.

‘To live and work in harmony with nature, seeking a balance between animals, plants and man. That’s ultimately what I’m trying to achieve. You might label it as biodynamic, regenerative… ultimately, it is ancestral knowledge,’ he concludes.

Horsepower

He evokes childhood memories as important reference points: ‘I remember my father had eight horses that ploughed all of the estate. We pioneered the [re]introduction of animal traction and are currently working 8ha solely with horses. My goal is to have five or six horses working the entire farm, supported only by an electric tractor.’

His convictions are reflected in the focus and unapologetic minerality that the sparkling wines of Raventós i Blanc – all vintage releases, produced with local varieties, certified organic and aged for a minimum of 18 months sur lie (on the lees) – have become known for, and in his unwavering belief that Conca del Riu Anoia deserves to be championed as a leading appellation for sparkling winemaking.

Some might consider Pepe’s demeanour to spring from hubris, others from a much-needed self-confidence and determination that many Spanish producers should use as inspiration.

Embracing challenges

Viticulture and winemaking aren’t the only areas Pepe has tended to – his leadership has also been about strengthening the brand and commercial viability of the business. ‘When I joined my father, the business was in ruins. I had to start making still wines to save it and stop losing money.’

Not one to leave challenges unmet or opportunities missed, Pepe came across and bought an abandoned property – Can Sumoi – that now serves as the production base for still wines.

The 400ha estate has also become a case study of sorts – a way for Pepe to apply his farming philosophy and sustainability practices holistically and at scale.

Further to Raventós i Blanc and Can Sumoi, Pepe also produces experimental releases under the Vins Pepe Raventós label.

‘These are wines I make in the garage, very low-intervention and very low volumes. It’s my lab of mistakes,’ he says. ‘All we learn from them then informs our work at Raventós i Blanc and Can Sumoi.’

Pepe quotes Che Guevara to justify his relentlessness: ‘Be realistic, dream the impossible.’ It is indeed at the crossroads of pragmatic efficiency and poetic rebelliousness that Pepe emerges as such an interesting figure. ‘The older I get, the more passionate I am about what we do.’

The demands imposed by climate change seem to further justify his efforts: ‘What these changes are telling us is that we need to rediscover and really focus on indigenous varieties. And to pay more attention to what happens in the vineyard as part of a complex [eco]system.’

Pepe Raventós’ quest is perhaps more the construction of an ethos – and a particularly interesting journey of self-discovery – than the development of a winemaking programme. The wines he produces might simply be a fortunate byproduct of an attempt to discover the meaning of ‘the good life’.

Contemporary and historic: Five from Pepe Raventós

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The patriarch of Barolo, Beppe Colla, has died aged 88, in the year he would have celebrated his 70th harvest.

The area of Barolo DOCG as we know it today is the result of his hard work. In 1960 he joined forces with Renato Ratti and Gildo Cavallotto (among others) on the commission to plot the outer boundaries of the Barolo wine terroir, preparing the DOC.

‘We tried to work on typicity to explain where vineyards have been included in the incoming appellation and where they have been not,’ he said in an interview in 2016.

‘Typically is a notion linked with appellation, of course, but also with the vineyards, the grape variety and the vintage. We can encode the density, the exposure, the altitude, but the typicity is also linked with common sense, and this is not sold by tons.’

Beppe Colla began to make wine after graduating in 1949 from the Scuola Enologica in Alba. After running Casa Vinicola Bonardi, he bought the winery of Cavalier Prunotto in 1956, producing outstanding vintages of Barolo Prunotto up to 1990.

He was also one of the first producers to introduce crus to Barolo in 1960, bottling his wines as Bussia. ‘I can honestly say,’ he told Alessandro Masnaghetti in an interview in 2016, ‘that I came to understand wine when I visited Burgundy in the early ’60s.’

He was one of the first to understand the importance of over-extraction with Nebbiolo grapes, something that can still be a problem today. Many Italians remember his challenges as president of the consortium Consorzio di Tutela Barolo Barbaresco during the methanol scandal, especially as he had always worked for quality wines.

In the ’90s he began a collaboration with Tuscan producer Piero Antinori, to whom he then he sold the winery. A few years later he founded his family winery Poderi Colla with his brother Tino and nephew Pietro. He was also one of the founders of the Order of the Knights of the Truffle and of the Wines of Alba, associating itself with the cuisine of Langhe.

His funeral was on 17 January in the church of Cristo Re in Alba.

In association with Cava DO.

Find yourself a great value Cava to enjoy...

In association with Cava DO.

Top value Cava: Under £25

Rebecca Gibb MW tasted these top Cava wines, at a tasting organised by the Cava DO. These are the wines that don’t break the bank.

‘There were some genuinely good sparkling wines, with several at the sub-£20 level displaying skilful viticulture and vinification, as well as an evolution from lengthy ageing.,’ said Gibb.

‘While no wine achieved more than 93 points, those achieving 90 or more displayed harmony, complexity and textural interest, clearly the result of tender loving care in both the vineyard and winery, offering intensity and fruit concentration.’

• Cava grape varieties: Three headline grapes

• Cava de Paraje Calificado: Cava’s top tier

• Cava and food pairing

In association with Cava DO.

In association with Cava DO.

Premium Cava: Over £25

‘The real excitement in Cava starts at around £25,’ said Rebecca Gibb MW, who has picked these Cavas at a higher price point, at a tasting organised with Cava DO.

‘Within the gran reserva category there were some clear stand-outs, showing that the varieties that make up most Cava blends – Macabeo, Parellada and Xarel.lo– can produce wines with finesse and ageing potential.’

‘On release, they are ready to drink and there’s little to gain from further cellaring.’

Choose one of these wines for your next special occasion…

• Cava grape varieties: Three headline grapes

• Cava de Paraje Calificado: Cava’s top tier

• Cava and food pairing

In association with Cava DO.

With its distinct sense of terroir, Cava made from Catalonia’s indigenous grape varieties is something we should all be drinking now, says Andrew Jefford...

In association with Cava DO.

What’s changing in Cava

When I think of Cava, I think of two paradoxes. The first is that this is the principal wine expression of the Catalan hills, yet drinkers very seldom think about Catalonia and its grape varieties, or its terroir, as they drink Cava. The paradox is intensified with every step the drinker takes up the Cava wine hierarchy.

Few wines express their identity and origins so forcefully as fine Cava, especially when vinified chiefly from Macabeo and Xarel.lo: the scent is intimately that of these wild, sunlit, pine-strewn, sea-fronted terraces, punctuated incessantly by forest and Mediterranean scrub, with all of its legendary aromatic force. The wines’ flavours, too – that salty-stony breadth, that structured southern fruit, the haunting of its foam by the memory of wild flowers and fennel seeds, the way that the bubbles lift and relieve an almost chewy white wine, while the grain of its yeast trace seems to suggest a white earth and the clay it might form when the winter rains come, and its always gentle acidity has a tangy, exotic quality – this, for me, is the taste of Catalonia itself, a perfect expression of its physical identity as a land, the most evocative of sketches.

One sip, and I can always see the jagged outline of Montserrat in the distance. Agreed, I’ve been lucky enough to visit several times and most Cava drinkers will not have had the same chance – but that sensorial difference is always there, and if you are ready to spend £20 or £30 on a Cava, you will find it there most intensely. Yet this vital facet of its character is rarely recognised or celebrated.

The second paradox is even more striking. The sparkling wine world is, at present, a rather dull and homogenous place. Why? Because so much of it lies in Champagne’s shadow. Champagne’s striking quality, and the imaginative hold it has succeeded in exerting on the market, is almost a dictature – so that whenever winemakers outside Europe (and often inside, too) want to make a sparkling wine, they reach for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and they set off with Champagne’s fine-honed balance and nuance buried like a gimlet in their brains, no matter how inappropriate this might be in terms of respect for the climate and soils in which such sparkling wines are going to be created. Since technology is an intimate part of all sparkling wine creation, they can often create passably good Champagne-like sparkling wines – though they are sparkling wines that are doomed to be second best, since they are trying to be what they can never be.

A changing world

Cava made with Catalonia’s indigenous varieties is the great exception to this rule. It proves, at the highest levels with triumphant success, that there is another way to make sparkling wine, a southern way, a warm-climate way, a terroir-respecting alternative – and that sparkling wines made in this idiom and in this style can work resoundingly well as gastronomic objects.

Great Cava rearranges all the sparkling wine rules. It is a force for liberation in the sparkling wine world, and in truth a much more useful source of inspiration than Champagne for many of those struggling to make great sparkling wine in climates that are vastly warmer than those of Reims and Epernay. Though, of course, sparkling winemakers would need to fall in love with Cava first in order to want to do what their landscapes and their seasons are, in fact, whispering to them to do.

Things are now changing; the sparkling wine world is finally shaking off Champagne’s dictature and beginning to expand. Alternatives are now permissible; drinkers are prepared to allow that there might be ways in which sparkling wines can seduce, entice, satisfy, inspire and transport that do not involve Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and the kind of acid balance that comes when a full season in the vineyard delivers only 9.5% potential alcohol by summer’s close. Cava’s moment has come.

And Cava, too, is changing. There is a recognition in Catalonia that the big business model of huge volume and low margins is not the only way to build a future. The kind of Cava I have described above has long been familiar to the Catalans themselves – but to almost no one else. Partly that was because the world wasn’t ready for it, but it also comes from the fact that the Cava rules have been drafted with such latitude (in terms of fruit origin and approved grape varieties) that ‘the Catalan character’ is often opaque or residual in less expensive examples.

Cava de Paraje Calificado is a change of direction – a category that allows those who wish to maximise rather than minimise the Catalan character in their wines the chance to do so. I know from having visited many smaller Cava producers that fine sparkling wines of this sort are already produced in profusion in the region, and often with the highest terroir ideals. Merchants around the world need to make at least small ranges of such wines available to their customers in what (I hope) are expanding offers of indigenous sparkling wines.

And then it will be down to you – the drinker. Open your mind; open your palate. Much wine beauty is an acquired taste – but, once acquired, complexity and intrigue ensures that it is never lost. This is what you will find when you discover, and come to appreciate, the fine foaming white wine of the Catalan hills.

Andrew Jefford is a writer, broadcaster and Decanter contributing editor.

More Cava articles here

In association with Cava DO.

Cava is very versatile with food. Fiona Beckett picks some of her favourite pairings...

In association with Cava DO.

Cava and food pairing

Artichokes and asparagus

Notoriously tricky vegetables to pair with wine, but no problem for Cava (though I’d go for white rather than green asparagus).

‘In winter in Catalunya we grow a small seasonal artichoke, and Cal Xim, one of my favourite restaurants in Sant Pau d’Ordal near Vilafranca del Penedès, cooks them on charcoal and they are dressed with olive oil. This is a heavenly match with a fresh Cava, preferably one that is aged on its lees,’ says Christophe Brunet.

Cheese

Especially sheep milk cheeses. Older gran reserva Cavas are good with aged cheeses like Manchego, but also with crumbly cheeses, such as aged Parmesan or Asiago.

Creamy sauces

Cava is perfect as it cuts through the richness (it’s particularly delicious with a fish pie). Richer, aged Cavas are a good counterpoint to creamy foie gras, too.

Fried foods

Anything that is crisp and crunchy is great with bubbles – even a simple cheese straw.

Rice

Paella and risotto, obviously, but also think of Iranian dishes, in particular, jewelled rice.

Salads

Because of its relative dryness, Cava doesn’t jar with vinaigrette. It’s particularly good with salads that contain fruit, such as grapes, apples and oranges.

Seafood

From anchovies to zarzuela (seafood stew), taking in hake and turbot along the way. José Pizarro reckons the perfect match is gambas al ajillo – prawns with hot peppers and lashings of garlic, while Ferran Centelles recalls the ‘oysters with solid Cava’ dish at El Celler de Can Roca in Girona – an oyster topped with Cava to which xanthan gum was added during the winemaking process. ‘The Cava was semi-solid and sparkled, and was served over a delicate oyster. What a memory!’

Tapas

Nuts, cheese and olives being the most obvious ones. And, of course, with jamón. Sparkling wine also works particularly well with eggs, which makes it a good match for tortilla.

In association with Cava DO.

Lenka Sedlackova MW takes a look at the main grape varieties used in Cava production....

In association with Cava DO.

Cava grape varieties

White (% of plantings)

Macabeo (35.3%)

Xarel.lo (25.5%)

Parellada (20.3%)

Chardonnay (8.7%)

Subirat Parent (0.2%)

Red (% of plantings)

Garnacha (4.1%)

Trepat (3.3%)

Pinot Noir (2.5%)

Monastrell (0.1%)

Xarel.lo

For many leading quality Cava producers, Xarel.lo is the most important grape variety. At Recaredo it represents 60% of plantings and Ton Mata, third generation enologist, defines himself as a staunch Xarel-list, or as he explains, ‘someone who is looking to interpret and explore the properties and virtues of the Xarel.lo grape variety’.

Research conducted by the University of Barcelona and UC Davis has highlighted that among white grapes, Xarel.lo is the variety with the highest concentration of resveratrol, a powerful antioxidant that can be found in grape skins. This, along with Xarel.lo’s low pH and fresh acidity, is beneficial for long ageing.

Xavier Gramona from the familyowned estate Gramona describes Xarel.lo’s acidity as ‘Mediterranean’ and its high antioxidant capacity is therefore necessary to allow long ageing. He adds that ‘the high concentration of resveratrol allows Cava to age without the need for dosage’ – in fact, the leading producers of premium Cava largely concentrate on producing Brut Nature styles.

And while these Cavas are bone dry, they have plenty of fruit and lees complexity to carry it.

For most of the longest-aged Cavas, Xarel.lo represents the main component of the blend, if not the whole blend. It is a variety that is difficult to grow and performs best when it’s at lower altitudes (below 400m). Early budding and late ripening equal a long growing season and the development of thick skins. Both Mata and Gramona highlight Xarel.lo’s ability to withstand drought as hugely important and this benefit was demonstrated during the very dry 2016 season, when other varieties did not perform so well.

Xarel.lo’s flavour profile is best described as intense and reminiscent of dried camomile and fennel, adding a pleasant bitter tone to the finish. With long ageing on lees, these flavours can develop into honeyed acacia tones and notes of warm patisserie.

Macabeo

Macabeo is the most common variety found in the Cava blend and represents 35% of plantings within the DO Cava.

Known as Viura in Rioja, it is a relatively neutral variety that shows delicate orchard fruit flavours. Because of this neutrality it is very useful in traditional-method sparkling wine production as it is easily able to take on secondary flavours from lees ageing.

Mata believes that Macabeo gives long-aged Cavas their delicate floral aromas. Macabeo also displays elevated levels of resveratrol, although not in the same concentration as Xarel.lo, making it useful for long ageing.

Parellada

Parellada often plays a supporting role in the Cava blend, but there are some producers, including Llopart and Mascaró, who put emphasis on this oft-maligned grape. Elegance, delicacy and finesse are the strings to Parellada’s bow.

Higher-altitude plantings are crucial to get the best out of Parellada, according to Jesi Llopart of Cava Llopart, one of the longest established producers of traditional-method sparkling wines in Penedès: ‘Altitudes of 300m and above allow us to unlock its potential, a balance of acidity and adequate fruit ripening.

‘As Parellada ages on lees, it develops an orange zest aroma,’ she adds. Older vines and lower yields can further add to flavour concentration.

Not all producers are prepared to use Parellada. The importance of site is further emphasised by Gramona, who purposefully avoids its use: ‘We are reluctant to use it in our area, where it reaches low acidity and its large and thick grapes retain a lot of water.’ Gramona goes on to explain that these big berries and Parellada’s low alcohol of 9–10% result in oxidative characters, rendering it undesirable for long ageing.

In association with DO Cava

The region's dozen best single-vineyard Cavas are now officially recognised as Cava de Paraje Calificado. Pedro Ballesteros Torress MW explains more...

In association with DO Cava

Cava de Paraje Calificado: Cava’s top classification

Recently Cava producers have taken the final step up the quality ladder by legalising single-vineyard Cava, now recognised as Cava de Paraje Calificado (CPC). The selection process for CPC wines is understandably strict, with stringent eligibility conditions.

Vines must be at least 10 years old, with lower yields, and all wines must be brut, extra brut or brut nature, and bottle-aged on the lees for at least 36 months.

There is also a requisite for full traceability, meaning all CPC vineyards must be owned or contracted on a long-term basis by the wineries.

If all of these criteria are met, the wines are then tasted blind by a panel made up of a majority of ‘outsiders’ – wine judges and experts who aren’t Cava producers themselves. Winemakers also have to explain to the judging panel what makes their vineyard a unique terroir.

‘Cava must be aspirational’

The initial group of CPC wines (see below) form the vanguard of the category. It is hoped that these single-vineyard Cavas will become known for providing a genuine expression of terroir. For Pere Bonet, president of the DO Cava, the path is clear.

‘We need to concentrate our efforts in developing distinguished premium categories in Cava,’ he says. ‘Cava must be aspirational, and Cava de Paraje Calificado is one of the summits.’

Indeed, the new regulation recognises a small number of wines that already comply with the requirements and are already recognised by wine experts for their higher quality. Because of the ageing requirement, all of the initial CPC candidates were prestige wines nearing the end of their maturation period. Not all were selected, but the ones that became CPC are, unsurprisingly, among the top Spanish sparkling wines.

Thanks to different approaches to vineyard management and grape varieties, in a typically Spanish way, there isn’t one standard definition of the tasting profile of a CPC. This is partly because producers have different philosophies, but also because CPC wines showcase the diversity of the Catalonian landscape.

Cava de Paraje Calificado wines come from a varied range of soils: saulò (sandy granite), llicorella (slate), calcareous, clay or loam. Microclimates are also diverse, because of the mountainous topography and uneven influence of the Mediterranean sea.

When it comes to grape varieties, the native Xarel.lo is probably the most preferred, either used on its own or blended with Macabeo and/or Parellada. However, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are used in two single-varietal CPC wines and present in a few blends.

Finally, in the winery, only a few producers stick to the 36-month minimum period of ageing; most age their wines for much longer.

The only factor uniting all of these wines is their excellent quality. They captivate, thanks to their balance and complexity. Some add power and length to the picture, while others show delicacy or intensity of expression, and others are simply one of a kind. So it seems that Cava de Paraje Calificado can best be defined by their uniqueness and personality.