July 12th – International Cava Day #CavaDay
Cava is a Spanish Sparkling Wine.
Made primarily from Macabeo, Xarel*lo, and Parallada, the blend also allows Chardonnay, Red Garnacha, Subirat Parent, Trepat, Pinot Noir, and Monastrell.
It is made in the traditional method (second fermentation in the bottle)
You will find it in a range of categories, from
Cava de Guarda, the youngest, aged at least 9 months,
to
Cava de Guarda Superior – a Reserva level wine aged a minimum of 18 months and
Cava Gran Reserva – aged more than 30 months in the bottle to the top-of-the-line
There is also
Cava de Paraje Calificado – a Cava of exceptional quality from a specific location (vineyard designated). This requires 36 months of aging.
And finally
Rosé Cava, which allows brief contact with the skins of the red grapes to add that rosé color.
Cava can be anywhere from a super dry Brut Nature to a sweet Dulce (with 50 or more grams of sugar per liter)
Where does it come from?
Well, from Spain. Originally from the Penedés region In Catalonia, but there are other regions in the Ebro Valley (Northcentral Spain), Almendralejo (South West Spain) and the Levante (the Eastern Highlands)
Corpinnat—Formerly known as Cava, a group of wineries decided to follow stricter rules and form their own collective. They have standards set for Ecology, manual harvesting, and long aging. In addition, they stick to traditional varieties, vinify on-premises, and must either own the vineyards the grapes come from or have long-term contracts with the growers.
What to pair Cava with?
Well, it goes with just about everything! So feel free to dive in!
We ran with the theme and did Spanish Tapas from Patatas Bravas to Gazpacho, Artichokes to Scallops!
More on Cava from Crushed Grape Chronicles
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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