Mas Codina

This is an aromatic, joyously pink bubbly that makes a delicious change from Toni Garriga's impressive and inexpensive white cava reserva.

Subtle red fruit aromas from the pure Pinot Noir grapes meet lasting, fine effervescence in a celebratory glassful that has appealing berry flavours and enough body to make it an accommodating food wine.

Mas Codina is in the Alt Penedès, a subregion west of Barcelona and protected from the elements by two mountain ranges. The family-owned company grows its fruit and makes its wines on a estate dating from 1681. It bottles only estate-grown fruit.

Robust, full-bodied Catalonian red, bursting with cassis, coffee, cedar and liquorice notes. There's the richness of fruitcake too—this is a relatively extravagant style. Silky-smooth tannins and a long, complex finish.

Oak aged for one year in a combination of French and American wood, with five further months ageing in stainless steel and then a year's cellaring in bottle before release.

This organic red would make a great choice if you're planning to cook fillet steak, rack of lamb or even good homemade burgers. If you don't care for meat, you may be interested to know that it's vegan certified too and a sturdy match for the rich, smoky flavours of aubergine or good mushrooms.

Mas Codina sits in the Alt Penedès, Catalonia, and is protected by two benevolent mountain ranges. All the fruit it uses is estate-grown.

This is a simply terrific white wine. The exact recipe in the blend varies from year to year, because winemaker Toni Garriga chooses what's best from the fruit on his estate to give the freshness and flavour he is looking for.

Usually, though, you can expect to find Xarel·lo, Macabeo, Chardonnay and Muscat in different proportions, all organically grown in the Mas Codina vineyards. 

The result is a dry but juicy and refreshing white wine with the crisp attack of green apples and a clean, lively energy throughout. It's very hard not to like it, and the value is really impressive.

A magnum: what luxury, and what value when cava of this quality still does not attract the premium put on some other traditional-method wines. Fragrant with toasty biscuit and brioche, lifted by citrus and floral notes. Zingy and elegant palate, with a crisp, lemony finish. Delicious as an aperitif, or to complement lighter meals.

Situated in the heart of the Alt Penedès - a privileged subregion protected from the elements by two mountain ranges, 40 hectare Mas Codina is a boutique, family-owned company dating from 1681.

Toni Garriga made just 2,262 bottles of this delicious white wine from the Costers de Lavernó sub-region of the Penedès appellation.

All the fruit is grown on the Mas Codina estate, and the exhilarating, zippy freshness of Xarel·lo is given a new dimension by fermentation and ageing in French and Hungarian oak barrels. (Though Xarel·lo is native to Penedès, and the use of oak in winemaking has a long history, the grapes are gently pressed pneumatically—not, as the label might suggest, by anyone's feet).

This is a clean and shapely white wine with enticing citrus aromas and elegant, silky texture.

The oak influence is subtle, and you could enjoy the Tradicio on its own, but it's a fantastic partner for fresh fish and seafood or poultry and white meat, perfectly capable of going anywhere a decent Chablis can go.

An easy recommendation to make—this is one of our favourite bubblies.

Cava, you may be glad to hear, is unrealistically inexpensive and is not sufficiently prized—almost entirely because of historical errors in marketing it to the world. This is a traditional method wine, produced by secondary fermentation in the bottle and demanding just as much care and skill as the sparkling wines of Champagne. However, because local grape varieties are used, in this instance alongside Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and because of the specific geology and climate of Catalonia, Toni Garriga's Cava Gran Reserva is a wine with a character and finesse all its own.

Because of its very low residual sugar level: less than 3 g/l, the success of the wine depends completely on the quality of the fruit. Pure, fine aromas of hay and apples announce a clean, crisp effervescence that is ideal for toasts and receptions; but this cava has the depth, from a minimum of three years' cellaring, to prove an excellent dining wine for all kinds of cuisines. Try a bottle with a roast chicken dinner or a paella and taste for yourself what a serious food match it can be.

Situated in the heart of the Alt Penedès - a privileged subregion protected from the elements by two mountain ranges, 40 hectare Mas Codina is a boutique, family-owned company dating from 1681. It uses only estate-grown fruit.