Penedès () is a

natural Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are p ...

and

historical region Historical regions (or historical areas) are geographical regions which at some point in time had a cultural, ethnic An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that ...

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. It is located in the south of the Principality of Catalonia between the pre-coastal mountain range (''Serralada Pre-litoral'') and the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

. The comarcal division of the

Generalitat de Catalunya The Generalitat de Catalunya (; oc, label=Aranese, Generalitat de Catalonha; es, Generalidad de Cataluña), or the Government of Catalonia, is the institutional system by which Catalonia politically organizes its self-government. It is formed b ...

in 1936 and 1987, divided Penedès into three administrative comarques:

Alt Penedès Alt Penedès () is a comarca (county) in Catalonia, northern Spain. The capital is Vilafranca del Penedès Vilafranca del Penedès, or simply Vilafranca (), is the capital of the ''comarca'' of the Alt Penedès in Catalonia, Spain. The Spanis ...

Baix Penedès Baix Penedès () is a Comarques of Catalonia, comarca in Catalonia, Spain. The area has been settled since the times of the Iberians, with ancient ruins remaining in Banyeres at ''Can Canyís'', in the capital El Vendrell at the village of ''Guà ...

and

Garraf Garraf (), better known as El Garraf (), is a comarca (county) in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia, northern Spain. It is named after the Garraf Massif. The GR 92 long distance footpath, which roughly follows the length of the Mediterranea ...

, and their capitals are

Vilafranca del Penedès Vilafranca del Penedès, or simply Vilafranca (), is the capital of the ''comarca'' of the Alt Penedès in Catalonia, Spain. The Spanish spelling of the name, ''Villafranca del Panadés'', is no longer in official use since 1982 (Law 12/1982, of ...

el Vendrell El Vendrell () is a town located in the province of Tarragona, Catalonia, in the wine-growing region of Penedès. It is wedged between the Mediterranean and the coastal range. El Vendrell is the capital of the Baix Penedès ''comarca'' and a tou ...

and

Vilanova i la Geltrú Vilanova i la Geltrú () is the capital city of Garraf ''comarca'', in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Historically a fishing port, the city has a growing population of approximately 66,000, and is situated 40 km south-west of Ba ...

. From the historical point of view, Penedès was since the start of the ninth century a border region inside the

county of Barcelona The County of Barcelona ( la, Comitatus Barcinonensis, ca, Comtat de Barcelona) was originally a frontier region under the rule of the Carolingian dynasty. In the 10th century, the Counts of Barcelona became progressively independent, heredi ...

, which had its center in the former military town

Olèrdola Olèrdola is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Alt Penedès in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated on the northern side of the Garraf massif, and the highest point of the municipality is the '' Puig de l'Àliga'' at 468 m. Olèrdola cas ...

, fortified again because of the Christian advance in 929. Olèrdola lost its defensive significance and the capital in the second half of the twelfth century and then Vilafranca del Penedès became the capital. During the thirteenth century formed the

Vegueria The ''vegueria'' (; pl. ''vegueries'') was the feudal administrative territorial jurisdiction of the Principality of Catalonia (to the Crown of Aragon) during the Middle Ages and into the Modern Era until the Nueva Planta decrees of 1716. The ve ...

of Vilafranca including all Penedès and most of Anoia as the sots-vegueria of Igualada. The provincial division of 1833 divided the region between the provinces of

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, which includes

and

, and the

province of Tarragona Tarragona (, ) is a province of eastern Spain, in the southern part of the autonomous community of Catalonia. It is bordered by the provinces of Castellón, Teruel, Zaragoza, Lérida and Barcelona and by the Mediterranean Sea. The province's p ...

, which includes Baix Penedès.GGCC, Penedès
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Wine production

Penedès is a wine-producing region having a Spanish Denominación de Origen Protegida (DOP) (''Denominació d'Origen Protegida'' in

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

). Penedès DOP includes all Penedès region and municipalities of four other

comarques This is a list of the 42 ''comarques'' (singular ''comarca'', , ) into which Catalonia is divided. A ''comarca'' is a group of municipalities, roughly equivalent to a county in the US or a district or council in the UK. However, in the context ...

Anoia Anoia () is a Comarques of Catalonia, comarca (county) in central Catalonia, Spain, with its capital at Igualada. The comarca of l'Anoia is irrigated by the Anoia River; the leading industry is the making of paper. To the north are Solsonès an ...

Alt Camp Alt Camp () is a comarca (county) in Catalonia, Spain. It is one of the three comarques into which Camp de Tarragona was divided in the comarcal division of 1936. Geography Alt Camp is a county in the province of Tarragona in Catalonia, Spain. T ...

Baix Llobregat Baix Llobregat () is a comarca (county) on the coast of Catalonia, Spain. Its capital is Sant Feliu de Llobregat. Municipalities Proposed changes It has long been proposed to split the northern part of Baix Llobregat into a separate comarca. ...

and

Tarragonès Tarragonès () is a comarca (county) in Catalonia, Spain. It is one of the three comarques formed in the 1936 comarcal division of Camp de Tarragona. It lies on the Mediterranean coast, between the comarques of Baix Penedès to the northeast and ...

. The area is framed by the coastal hills of the

Serra del Garraf The Garraf Massif ( ca, Massís del Garraf, ) is a mountain range of the Catalan Coastal Range, Catalonia, Spain. Its cliffs reach the Mediterranean waters. Its highest point on the coastal side is La Morella, 593 metres above sea level and furth ...

and the higher inland mountains which skirt the Catalan Central Depression. Long considered one of the country's best wine-producing regions after the Rioja, it is also one of the most ancient viticultural areas in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. Perhaps better-known for its Cava production, a

sparkling wine Sparkling wine is a wine with significant levels of carbon dioxide in it, making it fizzy. While the phrase commonly refers to champagne, European Union countries legally reserve that term for products exclusively produced in the Champagne regi ...

which has had its own ''Denominació d'Origen'' since 1986, white

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years ago, ...

varieties predominate, although the region also produces some highly regarded, oak-aged reds.

References

External links

Official Penedès "Denominación de Orígen" website

"Consejo Regulador de Cava" - Cava DO Regulator website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Penedes Natural regions Functional territorial sections of Catalonia

Wine production

See also

References

External links