On the nose I can detect some pears and apple, but not much and not much more. In the mouth the wine quickly disappears. It lacks freshness and seems exhausted. I wonder if something is wrong with the specific bottle. On the other side, the couple of Cava I tried in the past didn’t impress me neither. The wine sells at Coop for 15 CHF. I tend to welcome well-made alternatives to the overexpensive entry level champagnes produced by the well-established Maisons. So far Cava doesn’t seem to represent an alternative, although it is produced according to the same method.
On the other side, the grapes used are completely different. Instead of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, the white grapes Macabeu, Xarel·lo and Paralleda are used.
Macabeo is the primary grape used in Cava production. Despite its importance, Macabeu tastes somewhat simple. Xarel·lo is much more aromatic. The last grape, Paralleda, is blended for its good acidity and freshness.
Since I didn’t know much about Cava, I read a bit about it and discover that the roots of the cava industry can be traced back to Josep Raventós’ travels through Europe in the 1860s, to promote the still wines of his Codorníu Winery. His visits to Champagne made him consider the possibility of a Spanish wine made using the same traditional method. He created his first sparkler in 1872, after the vineyards of Penedès were devastated by phylloxera and the predominantly red vines were being replaced by large numbers of vines producing white grapes.
Today only wines produced in the champenoise traditional method may be labelled Cava. About 95% of all Cava is produced in the Penedès area of Catalonia, next to Barcelona. The two major producers are Codorníu and Freixenet.
Catalan Cava producers pioneered a significant technological development in sparkling wine production with the invention of the gyropallet, a large mechanized device that replaced hand riddling, by which the lees are consolidated in the neck of the bottle prior to disgorgement and corking. Gyropallet is only one example of the advanced mechanization solutions adopted in order to produce, store and bottle Cava. Technological innovations that allow the Spanish to produce Cava cheaply.
First produced in 2014, Cuvée Barcelona 1872 pays homage to Cava’s origins and history. The wine spends 9 months on the yeasts and is stored in a bottle that pictures the modernist stained glass windows of Barcelona.
Country: Spain
Region: Catalonia
Grapes: Macabeu, Xarel·lo, Paralleda
Type: Sparkling
Vintage: N/A
Producer: Codorníu
Price range: Medium (15-30 US$)
Pascal’s Enjoyment Index: 1/5