I have always posited that sparkling wines can pair with anything. Well, this month, Deanna of Wineivore asked me to put my money where my mouth is, so to speak. “Does everything go with Cava?” That was the question.
(This seems an appropriate question since the first week in July is Sparkling Wine Week, and this next week on July 12th, we will celebrate International Cava Day!)
The writers at #WinePW (Wine Pairing Weekend) will be discussing all things Cava this weekend, led by Deanna Kang of Wineivore. You will find links to my colleagues’ articles at the bottom of this post!
With few options for Cava available locally (Where is all the good Cava in Vegas, my friends!) I picked up a bottle at the wine store (that came highly recommended by an Associate at the store,* and embarked on a journey to find interesting Tapas! Then I would lay out the spread, and Michael and I would immerse ourselves in one of our favorite activities, tasting, and pairing.
*So I listened in to a conversation with this associate and another customer. The Customer was looking for a sparkling rosé for his wife, but he didn’t remember which one. The Associate guided him to a Crémant, telling him this would be a delicious wine, cheaper than Champagne, with good quality. So…good advice that I would have given, so I opted to trust him.
Really, Michael and I will sit with a board filled with all sorts of fruits, cheeses, meats, spices, vegetables, jams, and dips… and make small bites in combinations that increase exponentially until the bottle is empty.
As to inspiration? Well, I headed to the menus of the major Tapas spots in town. I mean, with names like José Andres and Julian Serrano, you are bound to come up with some inspiration. Then I pushed the envelope, sometimes out of laziness or convenience (rather than make ceviche, why not try the cava with some poke?)
Here is the wine we found and then our pairings!
The Quick details on Cava!
Maybe we should take a moment to talk about Cava!
So Cava is a sparkling wine from Spain. Primarily it comes from the Catalonia region and is made from the grapes Parellada, Xarel-lo and Macabeo. It is made in the Traditional Method like Champagne where the second fermentation happens in the bottle. It can be made in both white and rosé. This wine is a great option when you want those fine bubbles that you get in Champagne, but don’t want to spend too much money! The Cavas I found on the shelves mostly ran between $10-15, with a high end bottle sitting at $28.
I’ve written about Cava before! Here are some links
Borrasca Cava
Okay. Remember, I am somehow in a Cava desert. This is a brand made specifically for Total Wine. The Associate assured me that this was a high-quality dry Cava. The rest of the Cavas that they had would be from very big producers and would lean to the sweet side. So…I rolled with it.
Here are the details I could find, Borrasca began by making Cava, and they now also make Prosecco. The bottles are a bit blingy. The bottle I picked up did not have glitter on it (I tend to avoid bottles with glitter, quite honestly), but many do, and some are hot pink. On their website, there is a video called “Our Story,” which has no story. It is just pictures of bottles and sparkling wine being poured etc…
Honestly, there were few choices! As far as flavor? It was fine, nothing to write home about, but I was not going to spit it out! It got a review from my friend Reggie at Wine Casual that said
“The wine is straightforward and bright. A good value for an entry-level cava.”
I’d agree with that. But you know me, I’m always looking for a story behind the wine, and this one was lacking in that.
But at $11.99 this is a great wine for bubbles that you do not need to contemplate.
Pairings inspired by the greats!
I looked for the great Tapa restaurants in town and came up with a menu.
Pamplona is sadly closed, but I was inspired by their menu!
Steamed artichokes with aioli was inspired by the Grilled Artichokes in panko and paprika with homemade aioli from Pamplona. I’ll be honest, I was too lazy to grill them and I went with a simple steamed artichoke with an olive oil mayo blended with lemon juice and lemon zest. Michael wouldn’t eat these, so I indulged on my own.
Gazpacho. Another inspiration from the Pamplona menu, but one that I used to always make in the summer when I lived in Richmond, VA. Yesterday Michael and I were North at Blue Lizard Farms in Caliente, NV and Rodney the owner gifted me some of their glorious tomatoes! I added several to this gazpacho, with cucumber, sweet Walla Walla onion, a bit of Sherry vinegar and some V8 juice. I topped it with a dollop of sour crème, thinly sliced cucumber and grey sea salt.
My last inspiration from Pamplona was Patatas Bravas – I bought small golden potatoes quartered them, tossed them in olilve oil and some lemon pepper garlic seasoning from “Soul D’Licious” a local company that sells at the Farmers Market. This roasted for about 20 minutes in the convection oven at 425 degrees. Then I warmed up a bit of the Tomato Sauce that Michael made last year and froze and topped the warm potatoes.
Inspiration from Jaleo and Jose Andres
My next inspiration came from Jose Andres and his Jaleo menu.
He does a tapa called Endibias, which is endive leaves filed with goat cheese, orange and almonds. There was no endive to be found today, so I went with radicchio and filled the small inner leaves with goat cheese mixed with fresh thyme, then topped with orange supremes and sprinkled with sliced almonds.
Inspired by Julien Serrano
On to a couple of bites inspired by Julian Serrano (we had dinner at his restaurant here in Vegas once and it was amazing!)
He has a tapa of seared scallops with apple butter and caramelized apple. I found frozen sea scallops (there were no fresh ones at the store), I had some apple butter in the fridge and I got a Gala apple, diced it small and cooked it in butter and brown sugar to top the dish.
Julien also had a bite chorizo, honey and potato purée. I found a breakfast chorizo, heated that and sliced in on an angle, topped with a drizzle of honey and topped with those roasted potatoes, pureed with a bit of sour cream.
Deanna did say “anything” so I picked up some poke from the deli, and pulled out a can of anchovies and a jar of caviar.
(Deanna, you will be proud of me for all the little dishes! It took me back to Valcalepio!)
Yes, everything went with the Cava. Some things went better, the saltier things like the anchovies and the caviar. But each bite was accentuated by the wine in some way.
Let’s see if any of the other Wine Pairing Weekend Writers found any hits or misses!
More on Cava from the writers of #WinePW
- Cam of Culinary Cam shares Huevos Rotos (Broken Eggs) + Juve & Camps Reserva de la Familia Gran Reserva Brut
- Andrea of The Quirky Cork shares Cava and Croissants? Yes Please!
- Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm shares Grilled Teriyaki Chicken+Cava= A Perfect Summer Pairing
- Terri of Our Good Life shares Coconut Almond Tea Cakes and Torre Oria Cava Rosè
- Martin of Enolfylz Wine Blog shares 2017 Can Descregut Corpinnat Brut Nature Reserva + Spanish Inspired Appetizers!
- Linda of My Full Wine Glass shares Slightly sweet Cava Brut ups your grilling options.
- Gwendolyn Lawrence Alley of Wine Predator shares For a Sparkling Summer Choose Spanish Cava
- Our leader this month, Deanna of Wineivore shares Hoya de Cadenas Cava Brut and Coctel de Camaron
Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine and WSET 3 Certified. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.
When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.
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