King Alfonso XIII visited the Codorníu cellars and presided at a banquet in his honour.

Codorníu was Catalunya’s principal agricultural exporter and one of the most important in Spain. With just 100 employees, the company sold half the sparkling wine then consumed in Spain.

As the business grew, so did the need for grapes. Manuel Raventós bought 3,500 hectares of desert-like land near Lleida to plant vines that would supply the increasing production. Many of his contemporaries thought Manuel was misguided, but he correctly suspected the soon to be constructed canal from the Pyrenees would eventually supply ample irrigation.

Construction of the new Codorníu winery and cellars was completed. One of the finest examples of winery architecture, it remains a symbol of the company’s ongoing enterprising spirit and vision.

Josep Puig i Cadafalch, who, like Gaudí, was one of the leading exponents of the great Catalan modernist architectural school, was in charge of design and construction of the winery buildings.

Codorníu expanded and went from strength to strength as cava bolstered its position in the Spanish market.

Manuel Raventós presided over Codorníu with intelligence, persistence and great vision, during a period in which the company developed both in Spain and internationally.