The Denominacions d'origen in Catalonia are approximately (but not exactly) equivalent to the comarques or counties that often share the same names. Thus the D.O. Penedès comprises the comarques of Alt Penedès, Baix Penedès, El Garraf and part of the Alt Camp, whilst the D.O. Priorat is actually only half of the comarca of the same name (the rest is now encompassed within Montsant). Click on an area of the map for information about that D.O.

The Vins de Catalunya denomination covers wines made outside the above areas, or made of grapes coming from more than one of these areas. There has been a great deal of controversy over this, and much of the drive to approve the new denomination has been attributed to Torres, as it suits them to be able to mix grapes from different areas for their more mass-market wines. I expect some quality producers to join in the future when they want to do things not currently accepted in the smaller D.O.s.

The Cava Denomination functions in much the same way as the regional denominations, but is not tied to a single geographical area. The vast majority of Cavas produced are from Catalonia, mostly from the geographical area of D.O. Penedès, but you can find cavas from Rioja or other areas of Spain.