Raventós i Blanc: Why Pepe Raventós Left Cava Behind and What He's Building in Its Place

Pepe Raventós is a 21st generation winemaker who walked away from the appellation his grandfather helped build. Cava had become a commodity. The name carried the wrong story. So he left.

What followed was a decade-long fight to prove that Penedès — a poor, rural corner of Catalonia with more than 3,000 years of winemaking history — deserves its own appellation and a seat at the table with the greatest sparkling wines in the world.

Along the way, Pepe planted the wrong grape in the wrong place, discovered an abandoned farm nearly converted to a chicken factory, and built a winery in a garage underneath his bed. He paid farmers twice the going rate. Moved his family to New York for five years. And found an almost extinct grape called Sumoll that he believes will one day rival Nebbiolo on the world stage.

This is not a conversation about Cava. It's about what happens when a rebel with deep roots decides to start from scratch.

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