First bottles under the brand name of CORPINNAT will be launched this spring
The collective brand name of the European Union CORPINNAT of Quality Sparkling Wines will be launched on the market this next spring with the selling of the first bottles, which include on the label the seal of the brand which groups nine wineries from the Penedès: Gramona, Llopart, Nadal, Recaredo, Sabaté i Coca, Torelló, Huguet-Can Freixes, Júlia Bernat and Mas Candí.
The nine wineries, which today make up the collective brand name CORPINNAT, have agreed to leave the Denomination of Origin. After months of discussions both groups have not found a formula that would allow them to coexist under the same label. In spite of the intense negotiations between the wine growers and Producers Association CORPINNAT (AVEC) – l’Associació de Viticultors i Elaboradors CORPINNAT (AVEC) – and the DO Cava, it has been impossible to reach a satisfactory solution between the two parties.
Therefore, the wineries associated to CORPINNAT have been forced to abandon the DO even though they set up the brand with the clear will to continue within the world of Cava. The latest proposal for integration that the Regulating Council has put on the table is not assumable on the part of CORPINNAT, because it requires a series of relinquishments that question the very nature of the collective brand name, such as territorial delimitation, rules of use or external quality controls.
Undertaking for the future
The discussions between CORPINNAT and the D.O. Cava, particularly with the new board of directors which was formed by last summer’s elections, have been constructive for the sector overall, and as a result of this the Regulating Council have incorporated in their ideas the possibility of zonification in the future within the limits of the Denomination of Origin.
CORPINNAT recognizes and values the fact that the Council has taken this step which can be a great help for the evolution of cava. In fact AVEC has, at all times, defended the proposal that all the territories that make up the DO have the possibility for expressing their special nature when they are presented to the market. But the AVEC regrets the fact that the DO Cava does not allow the coexistence of the Cava and CORPINNAT brands on one and the same label. This coexistence was possible until the DO Cava approved a modification of the regulations at the last meeting of the Board dated (28.08.2018) to make this precisely incompatible (see chronology).
The CORPINNAT project is not only just a guarantee of origin but it also represents a commitment for defending the special features of the territory and the varieties within the international offer of sparkling wines. Also, CORPINNAT intends to strengthen the excellence of the sparkling wines produced in the heart of the Penedès with one of the strictest regulations for production in the world, which certifies the maximum standards of quality. CORPINNAT has as its mission to motivate and strengthen the whole sector in terms of prestige and positioning, an objective that is perfectly compatible with Cava. Notwithstanding that, the Regulating Council of the DO Cava has not understood it in this manner.
For this reason, and faced with the impossibility of finding, in the current context, a solution that allows for this coexistence, and without shutting any door to the future, CORPINNAT faces a new stage with the undertaking of continuing to work for the good of the whole sector, in favour of the agricultural sector as the motor for change and transformation and with the objective of positioning the top sparkling wines that are produced in the heart of the Penedès among the best in the world. Also, and faced with the unforeseen new situation outside the DO Cava, CORPINNAT opens up a period of consideration in order to tackle this new stage.
Within the strictest requirements of CORPINNAT what stands out is the obligation of working with 100% ecological grapes, handpicked, minimum ageing for 18 months, the inclusion of the winegrower in the chain of value and the guarantee that 100% of the vinification process is carried out on the estate.
CHRONOLOGY
January 2015
The first meetings commence between a reduced number of cava producers of the Penedès to consider the future of the sector.
July 10, 2017
The Association of Viticultors i Elaboradors CORPINNAT (AVEC) is established and made up at that time by the Gramona, Llopart, Nadal, Recaredo, Sabaté i Coca and Torelló wineries..
July 11, 2017
AVEC commences procedures for registering the collective brand name CORPINNAT at the Intellectual Property Office of the European Union (EUIPO).
December 7, 2017
The Intellectual Property Office of the European Union ((EUIPO) formally registers the collective brand name for quality CORPINNAT sparkling wines.
February 27, 2018
Representatives of the Board of Directors of CORPINNAT meets with the President of the Regulating Council for the DO Cava, Pere Bonet and the General Secretary, in order to present them with the project and to invite them to the official presentation programmed for the 10th of April in Sant Sadurni.
April 10, 2018
CORPINNAT introduces itself to society at an act consisting of a very wide representation of the sector and of institutions in Sant Sadurni d’Anoia.
April 12, 2018
The Regulating Council of the DO Cava issues a public communication to the effect that its judicial services are studying the compatibility of the new collective brand name CORPINNAT with the DO Cava.
May/June 2018
Bilateral meetings are held between the Regulating Council of the DO Cava and the AVEC in order to attempt to find a way for the coexistence of the brand name within the DO. The CRDO Cava alleges in writing that the coexistence of CORPINNAT and Cava is incompatible on one and the same label because it could “cause confusion amongst consumers”. AVEC was willing to make concessions for this not to occur.
June 22, 2018
The plenary session of the Regulating Council of the DO Cava Penedès approves authorization so that the new collective brand name CORPINNAT may coexist with its Classic Penedès Sparkling Wines.
July 3, 2018
The Regulating Council of the DO Cava sends AVEC a report from it legal services that recommends a change in the regulations of the DO Cava in order to prevent the brand name CORPINNAT from coexisting on the label with the Cava brand and demands the removal of the collective brand name from the EU.
July 2018
The Regulating Council of the DO Cava request AVEC to stop the launching of the brand name CORPINNAT on the market, foreseen at this time for the month of October and that they also stop any communications and promotion of the brand name. In exchange, the CRDO Cava undertakes not to demand the removal of the brand name and to make no changes in its regulations with regard to labeling. AVEC accepts this agreement until the holding of the last plenary meeting of the outgoing DO Cava Regulating Council foreseen for the 28th of August.
July 6, 2018
AVEC publishes a manifest on occasion of the elections for the renewal of the Regulating Council for the DO Cava where it announces that CORPINNAT will support to those candidates who defend the territory, who undertake to apply correcting measures for recuperating the prestige of Cava and who accept initiatives such as the collective brand name CORPINNAT.
July/August 2018
CORPINNAT holds meetings with representatives from the different communities of the DO Cava (agricultural trade unions, wine growers associations, candidates for the presidency and directors of the Regulating Council etc) in order to explain to them the philosophy of the collective brand name and to attempt to make the sector understand the will and convenience of joining CORPINNAT.
August 28, 2018
The last plenary session of the DO Cava Regulating Council that ceases its functions and this same day approves a modification of the regulations on labeling in order to prevent the coexistence of Cava and CORPINNAT, against the agreement reached in July, much to the surprise of AVEC.
September 2018
AVEC contacts the new President of the CRDO Cava and during a second round of conversations attempts to recuperate the dialogue.
September 28, 2018
The Huguet-Can Freixes winery joins CORPINNAT.
October/November 2018
Bilateral meetings continue between a delegation from AVEC and the DO Cava Regulating Council in order to continue to explore an agreement making it possible for the coexistence of CORPINNAT within the Cava sector.
December 3, 2018
AVEC and the DO Cava hold a last meeting where the Regulating Council presents a document which includes the strategic lines for the future of Cava and where it reiterates that CORPINNAT does not fit unless, it withdraws from the principals of territory and other requirements from of its manual of usage.
December 3, 2018
The Júlia Bernet winery joins CORPINNAT.
December 13, 2018
The Mas Candí winery joins CORPINNAT.
December 20, 2018
AVEC calls upon the DO Cava Regulating Council to reconvene the discussions at a meeting pending calling as from January 8, 2019.
January 5, 2019
The Regulating Council of the DO Cava sends the AVEC a written draft agreement where it accepts the coexistence of the brand name CORPINAT within the DO Cava in exchange for CORPINAT withdrawing its territorial limits, that it withdraws its own regulations of usage in exchange for the inclusion of some of the rules of production of the regulations of the DO Cava and that it waivers the execution of the quality controls by an external auditing firm in exchange for the same being taken on by the inspection services of the DO Cava itself.
January 8, 2019
AVEC advises the DO Cava that the terms of the proposed draft agreement are not assumable by CORPINNAT since they violate the principles and the nature itself of the brand.
January 22, 2019
The DO Cava Regulating Council sends a letter to the presidency of CORPINNAT calling a first working meeting for commencing the zonification project foreseen for the 25th of January and where it also demands “the suspension of the use of the collective brand name, at the very latest on the 31st of January, 2019”.
January 30, 2019
The nine wineries CORPINNAT submit to the registry of the DO Cava Regulating Council its withdrawal as cava producers.
