Penedès () is a

natural Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the laws, elements and phenomena of the physical world, including life. Although humans are part ...

and

historical region History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

. It is located in the south of the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain 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 east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

. The comarcal division of the

Generalitat de Catalunya The Generalitat de Catalunya (; ; ), or the Government of Catalonia, is the institutional system by which Catalonia is self-governed as an autonomous community of Spain. It is made up of the Parliament of Catalonia, the President of the Govern ...

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

Alt Penedès Alt Penedès () is a comarca (county) in the Penedès region, in Catalonia, Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarif ...

Baix Penedès Baix Penedès () is a comarca in the Penedès region, in Catalonia, Spain. The area has been settled since the times of the Iberians, with ancient ruins remaining in Banyeres at ''Can Canyís'', at the village of ''Guàrdies'' and in Calafell a ...

and Garraf, and their capitals are

Vilafranca del Penedès Vilafranca del Penedès, or simply Vilafranca, is the capital of Alt Penedès county in Penedès, Catalonia, Spain. It is situated in the Penedès Depression on the left bank of the Foix River, and on the main axis of communication from Barcel ...

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 t ...

and

Vilanova i la Geltrú Vilanova i la Geltrú () is the capital city of Garraf ''comarca'', in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Historically, it is the result of the aggregation of the medieval center of La Geltrú with the center built outside the medieval w ...

. 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 (, ) was a polity in northeastern Iberian Peninsula, originally located in the southern frontier region of the Carolingian Empire. In the 10th century, the Counts of Barcelona progressively achieved independence from F ...

, 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. Olèrdol ...

, 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 A ''vegueria'' (), plural ', is the highest-level Subdivisions of Catalonia, regional division of Catalonia. Each vegueria is further divided into ''Comarques of Catalonia, comarques'' and Municipality, municipalities. As of 2025, the divides th ...

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 northeastern coast of 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 c ...

, which includes

and Garraf, 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, Lleida and Barcelona and by the Mediterranean Sea. The province's po ...

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

comarques The comarques of Catalonia (singular ''comarca'', , ), often referred to in English as counties, are an administrative division of Catalonia. Each comarca comprises a number of municipalities, roughly equivalent to a county in the United States. ...

Anoia Anoia () is a comarca (county) in central Catalonia, Spain, with its capital at Igualada. It is mainly located in the Penedès region, with its northern section being in Central Catalonia. The comarca of Anoia is irrigated by the Anoia River; ...

Alt Camp Alt Camp () is a comarca (county) located in the region of Camp de Tarragona, in Catalonia, Spain. The capital is the city of Valls. Geography To the north of the county lies Conca de Barberà, to the northeast lies Anoia, to the east and sout ...

Baix Llobregat Baix Llobregat () is a comarca (county) on the coast of Catalonia, Spain. It is located in the Barcelona region and its capital is Sant Feliu de Llobregat. Municipalities Proposed changes It has long been proposed to split the northern part of ...

and

Tarragonès Tarragonès () is a comarca (county) in Camp de Tarragona, Catalonia (Spain). It lies on the Mediterranean coast, between the comarques of Baix Penedès to the northeast and Baix Camp to the south. Over 60% of the population live in the capital, ...

. The area is framed by the coastal hills of the Serra del Garraf and the higher inland mountains which skirt the

Catalan Central Depression The Catalan Central Depression () is a natural depression between the Pre-Pyrenees and the Catalan Pre-Coastal Range in Spain. It widens towards the west, linking with the Ebro Depression, , of which it could be considered an eastern extension ...

. 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 continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. 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 it is common to refer to this as champagne, European Union countries legally reserve that word for products exclusively produced in the Champagne ( ...

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 approximately 8,0 ...

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 of Spain Functional territorial sections of Catalonia

Wine production

See also

References

External links