SPAIN • Penedès

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: Anoia, Alt Camp, Baix Llobregat and Tarragonès. The area is framed by the coastal hills of the Serra del Garraf 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. Perhaps better-known for its Cava production, a sparkling wine which has had its own Denominació d'Origen since 1986, white grape varieties predominate, although the region also produces some highly regarded, oak-aged reds.