Sparkling Cava Wines

admin — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 20:57:18 +0000

Cava is mostly a quality and tasteful white wine produced in Northern Spain. This cava wine is produced by a unique technique Known as “method champenoise”, or the method of a secondary fermentation in the bottle. However this white wine is also mostly known as “champan” by the Spanish people. There was a dispute regarding the name of this white wine between Spanish and French. But after legal battles with the French, it was decided that the name of the wine could only be applied to wines made in the area. So after that the name Cava was decided upon the Champagne area of France.

The wine is bottled with a temporary cork and stored in a horizontal position after the first fermentation. To make the Cava wine classy it must be in contact with the lees for a minimum of 9 months but this can often be as long as 2 years. At the end of this period comes the disgorgement process when the wine is cleaned of the yeast sediment by removing the cork, any liquid lost at this time is replaced by wine of the year either sweet or dry depending on the preference of the producer. The final cork is then put in and the wine goes for labeling and dispatch. The production of Cava Wines is rigorously controlled by the Consell Regulador del Cava to ensure that the resulting sparkling wines are of the highest quality. The main grapes used are Macabeu,xarello, Parellada and more recently some Chardonny varieties.

Cava is the Catalan for cave and it is from this area that most of these delightful bubbly Spanish wines are produced. However Cava wines are unique because unlike other “Denominacion de Origen” regions in Spain it is not restricted to one particular demarcated area, and in addition to Catalyuna it is also produced in D.O. Rioja, D.O. Navarra and D.O. Aragon. That said however some 95% of Cava wines comes form the D.O. Penedes in the region of Catalunya.

However cava wines have a huge reputation and recognition worldwide today because of their quality and sparkling wineries which are mostly suitable for many occasions and satisfying most paletes. They come in dry, sweet and brut varieties and represent very good value for money.

Wine Unique » catalunya

Sparkling Cava Wines

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