From the atlas
Nadal
At A Glance
Nadal is a family estate at Can Nadal de la Boadella in Torrelavit, in Catalonia’s Penedès area. Its sparkling wines use estate-grown Parellada, Macabeu and Xarel·lo, are made by the traditional method and spend extended time ageing in bottle; the result is a dry, fine-bubbled style shaped as much by time in the cellar as by fresh fruit from the vineyard.
The Producer
A notarial document records Pere Nadal’s ownership of Can Nadal de la Boadella in 1510, and the family says vines have been cultivated and wine made there ever since. Nadal is the producer rather than an appellation: its name sits on bottles ranging from Xarel·lo-based still whites to Corpinnat sparkling wine, while Corpinnat signals a Penedès sparkling category with rules for origin, organic vineyards, hand harvesting, on-site vinification and bottle ageing.
Place
Torrelavit lies in the Penedès, where Nadal works with long-established local white varieties rather than building its range around international grapes. Parellada brings floral lift and smoothness to sparkling blends, Macabeu adds fresh fruit and structure, and Xarel·lo can supply ripe fruit and volume in a bottle-aged sparkler or a more herbaceous, persistent profile in a dry still white.
Corpinnat is useful label information here. It does not replace Nadal’s name; it tells you that the sparkling wine was made within a defined Penedès framework, including a minimum of 18 months’ bottle ageing. Nadal’s own releases go further, with sparkling wines held from 30 months to as long as 26 years before release.
Soil And Site
The estate has 80 hectares of vineyards, including vines up to 80 years old, and farms them dry. No detailed soil profile is supplied, so the clearest physical picture is one of mature Penedès vines worked without irrigation: grape selection and harvest timing carry extra weight when the fruit is destined either for crisp still whites or for long ageing on its lees in sparkling wine.
Nadal farms the grapes for its sparkling and white wines organically, avoiding pesticides and artificial fertilizers. After three conversion harvests, the estate received organic certification in 2018; that farming frame applies before the cellar divides the harvest into white, rosé, sweet and sparkling bottles.
Story
The modern Nadal winery began with a change of direction after the Spanish Civil War. The family had been distilling, then redirected the business toward sparkling wine, producing the first Nadal Brut in 1943. That decision established bottle-fermented wine as the estate’s central work, so later releases could use local grapes not merely for immediate fruit but for texture, nutty development and dry finishes gained through ageing.
Still whites joined the range in 1998 under the family’s third generation. They allow Xarel·lo and Xarel·lo Vermell to appear without bubbles or long lees ageing, making the grape’s fruit, floral notes, acidity and body easier to see on their own. In 2018, Nadal was among the six wineries that presented the Corpinnat collective brand in Sant Sadurní d’Anoia.
Vineyards And Cellar
For the sparkling wines, Nadal uses the traditional, or champenoise, method: the wine undergoes its second fermentation in bottle, where it develops mousse and lees-derived savoury notes before disgorgement. Long bottle ageing changes the profile from simple fruit toward nuts and broader texture, while the Parellada, Macabeu and Xarel·lo blend retains acidity and dry shape.
The still wines make a different use of the same estate material. Nadal X Blanc is made from Xarel·lo harvested in the first half of September, a timing chosen for a fresh, persistent wine with herbaceous, floral and white-fruit notes. Nadal X Vermell uses the rarer red-skinned white Xarel·lo Vermell, whose higher acidity and lightly spicy, menthol character bring a creamy but fresh profile.
Wines
The sparkling range runs from Nadal Brut Reserva Original to Brut Nature and the long-aged RNG wines. Brut Nature 2017 is a dry special edition of 38,602 bottles, made from 52% Parellada, 28% Macabeu and 20% Xarel·lo from the estate harvest. RNG20 takes the cellar programme much further: it is a limited release of 1,049 magnums from the 1997 harvest, named for Ramon Nadal Giró.
Among the still wines, Nadal X Blanc gives Xarel·lo a dry, fresh-bodied form, while Nadal X Vermell turns to Xarel·lo Vermell for higher acidity, spice and creamy texture. Nadal Microvinificació Rosé is a separate estate-grape rosé project. Nadal also makes sweet wine from naturally botrytised Macabeu under the Nadal 1510 name, while Malvasia de Sitges contributes aromatic wines with jasmine, orange blossom, rose and a saline finish.
In The Glass
Nadal Brut Nature 2017 starts with fine bubbles, white fruit and nut aromas. The palate is soft rather than heavy, with dry acidity carrying the mousse through ageing notes into the finish; the nut character comes from traditional-method bottle ageing, while the white-fruit line reflects the Parellada, Macabeu and Xarel·lo blend.
Nadal X Blanc shifts the focus from lees and mousse to Xarel·lo itself: herbaceous and floral aromas meet white fruit, then a fresh, persistent palate. X Vermell adds red reflections, lightly spicy and menthol notes, with creaminess held in check by its higher acidity.
A Bottle To Understand It
Start with Nadal Brut Nature 2017. It is a dry traditional-method sparkling wine from the estate’s own Parellada, Macabeu and Xarel·lo harvest, bottled as a 38,602-bottle special edition. Fine mousse, white fruit and nut aromas lead into a soft-textured palate with ageing notes and a dry finish. It puts Nadal’s local grapes, organic estate farming and long bottle-ageing practice into one glass without the extreme age and limited-magnum format of RNG20.
Anecdote
During the Spanish Civil War, part of Can Nadal de la Boadella was expropriated for an airfield. In 1941, Ramon Nadal Giró repossessed the vineyards the army had been using. He then built the estate’s foundational cellar twenty metres underground, beneath the property whose vines had been disrupted by the war. Two years later, after the family business moved away from distilling and toward sparkling wine, Nadal produced its first Brut. The underground cellar became the place for the bottle-aged wines that followed, while the recovered vineyard land returned to the estate’s grape growing.
Final Word
Nadal offers two useful views of Penedès grapes: Xarel·lo in a fresh dry white, and Parellada, Macabeu and Xarel·lo transformed by bottle fermentation and extended ageing. The 1943 Brut is the historical turning point; Brut Nature 2017 is the direct way to taste its continuing effect.
Sources
https://nadal.com/en/nadal-de-la-boadella-estate/
https://nadal.com/en/corpinnat/
https://www.wineenthusiast.com/culture/wine/cava-corpinnat/
https://www.elcellerdecanmata.com/producte/nadal-brut-nature-2016/
https://www.munskankarna.se/sv/vinlocus/importor/femtorp-ab
https://www.lavanguardia.com/gourmetlv/es/producto-gourmet/nadal-microvinificacio-rose-2021-75cl
https://totselecta.com/catalogo-bodegas/nadal