Cava Flashcards
Cava Grape
There are three grapes: Macabeo, Xarello and Parellada
Macabeo
(Aka Viura, Macabeu)
Adds floral, apricot and berry flavours
Xarello
Adds acidity
Parellada
Adds quince, Apple, and citrus flavours
Cava- Quality Levels
3 quality levels: Standard- 9 months min. aging, Reserva- 15 months min. aging, Gran Reserva- 30 months min. aging and vintage dated
Cava DO
Is the only Spanish wine classification for a style of wine rather than a region. Still, around 95% of the production is in the Penedes region of Spain
Macabeo
Is northern Spain’s second most planted white grape variety (considerably after airén), whose total had grown to 37,514 ha/49,400 acres by 2011, and, as Maccabéo or Macabeu, was still planted on 2,172 ha/5,367 acres of French vineyard, mainly in roussillon. It buds and ripens too late to be grown much further north but is quite productive. It is grown in most Spanish regions apart from Galicia and the far south with the greatest areas in castilla-la mancha where it makes relatively bland dry whites, and in catalunya where it is an ingredient in cava, generally blended with Xarello and Parellada. More than 2,000 ha/4,942 acres remain in each of aragón and rioja where, as Viura, it replaced Malvasia Fina and Garnacha Blanca after phylloxera. Average vine age is high in Rioja and can be matched by wine quality if yields are restricted. In early-picked form, in Roussillon it is either a fairly characterless white, a useful ingredient in rosé, or, as in Spain, a common lightener of potent reds in which it is officially sanctioned up to 10% of the total blend (up to 30% in rosé). In the languedoc, in the white wines of Minervois and Corbières, it may be blended with bourboulenc, grenache blanc, and a host of other southern white varieties. Macabeo spread to southern France from Spain and was well established at one time in North Africa, where the vine can tolerate hot, dry conditions.
Xarello
Fine white grape variety planted on a fairly static total of 8,662 ha/21,395 acres of catalunya in 2011, producing powerful, ageworthy still and sparkling wines. It is particularly important in alella, where it is known as Pansa Blanca. It is most commonly found in penedès, however, where, with Parellada and Macabeo, it makes up most cava blends. It needs careful pruning and the wine it produces can be very strongly flavoured. It is the rather vegetal smell of Xarel-lo that often distinguishes so many Cavas from other traditional method sparkling wines.
Parellada
Highly regarded white grape variety originally Aragonese but now grown almost exclusively in Catalunya, especially around San Sadurn’I d’Anoia on just under 8,000 ha/20,000 acres in 2012 where it is widely used, with macabeo and xarel-lo, for the production of cava. It is the least planted of these three varieties in penedès, the region most closely associated with these Spanish sparkling wines. Parellada can produce aromatic, high-quality wine when grown in relatively poor soil and in cooler conditions. It has large, loose bunches, buds early, and ripens late. Occasionally made as a varietal still wine.
Codorníu
One of the world’s largest producers of sparkling wines made by the traditional method. The Codorníu group incorporates the Spanish cava brand Codorníu, and Masia Bach and Raimat (see costers del segre) which make both Cava and still wine. Cava is responsible for more than half of the company’s turnover and Codorníu is particularly strong on the Spanish market. The history of Codorníu dates back to 1551, when the Codorníu family established their first winery in Sant Sadurní d’Anoia in penedès in Cataluña. In 1659, the heiress to the Codorníu winery, Anna Codorníu, married a member of the Raventós family. A direct descendant, Josep Raventós, decided to produce sparkling wine, uncorking the first bottle of Spanish wine made in the image of champagne in 1872. Within ten years, the style was popular across Spain, and Codorníu claims as a result to have founded the Cava industry. Codorníu was the first to use Chardonnay and Pinot Noir as well as the traditional Catalan grapes Parellada, Macabeo, and Xarel-lo in its Cavas. The company’s first Chardonnay-based Cava, named Anna de Codorníu, was launched in 1984 and Chardonnay has since become a common ingredient in many Codorníu Cavas. Raimat, in Costers del Segre, is the viticultural and research and development centre for the group. In 1991, the group opened Codorníu Napa, a new winery in the carneros district of California, since renamed Artesa. In 1997, Codorníu acquired the traditional Bodegas Bilbaínas winery and 200 surrounding hectares in rioja Alta, then in 2000 it acquired a controlling stake in Cellers de Scala Dei, the oldest winery in priorat. In 1999, the company built the Septima winery in Mendoza, Argentina and in 2000 built the Legaris winery from scratch in ribera del duero. Other wineries in Spain include Abadia de Poblet in conca de barberá and Nuviana in Valle del Cinca in Aragón.
Cava
Spanish sparkling wines made using the traditional method of sparkling winemaking. The term Cava was adopted by the Spanish in 1970 when they agreed to abandon the use of the potentially misleading term Champaña. The word originates in cataluña, which produces most but not all Cava, where it means ‘cellar’. It was here in the town of Sant Sadurní d’Anoia that José Raventós, head of the family firm of codorníu, made the first bottles of traditional method sparkling wine after a visit to France in 1872. Early growth in the industry coincided with the arrival of the phylloxera louse, which first appeared in Catalan vineyards in the 1880s. Vineyards that had once made sturdy red wines had to be uprooted and were replanted with macabeo, parellada, and xarello, the triad of grape varieties which is the mainstay of the Cava industry to this day. In 1889, the Raventos family were joined by Pedro Ferrer, who founded the firm of freixenet. Codorníu and Freixenet, both still family owned, are now two of the largest sparkling wine producers in the world, with their own winery outposts in california. Unlike any other Spanish do, the Cava denominación is not restricted to a single delimited area. However, since Spain joined the eu in 1986, the EU authorities have insisted that Cava should be made from grapes grown in prescribed regions. As a result, the use of the term Cava is restricted to sparkling wines from a list of municipalities in Catalonia, valencia, aragón, navarra, rioja, and the basque country. Ninety-five per cent of all Cava is made in Cataluña, however, mostly in and around the town of Sant Sadurní d’Anoia. Total production amounts to over 1.2 million hl/31 million gal a year (about a third that of Champagne). The light, aromatic Macabeo (the Viura of Rioja) comprises about half of the blend for a typical Cava, its late budbreak making it a popular choice for vineyards prone to spring frosts. The productive and indigenous Xarello vine which thrives at relatively low elevations is the second most important, and its earthy aroma has been one of Cava’s distinguishing features. Parellada performs better above 300 m/900 ft, where it produces finer wines relatively low in body. Plantings of the French vine chardonnay, officially authorized for Cava in 1986, seem to have peaked at 1,500 ha/3,700 acres, mostly around Sant Sadurní d’Anoia. The dark-skinned varieties garnacha, monastrell, pinot noir, and trepat are also permitted, Trepat only in rosé. To qualify for the do, Cava must be made according to the local, and in some respects less rigorous, adaptation of the champagne traditional method. The wine must spend at least nine months on its lees before disgorgement, achieve at least four atmospheres of pressure, and attain an alcoholic strength of 10.8–12.8% by volume. yields, set at a maximum of 1 hl of must per 150 kg of grapes, are higher than those allowed in Champagne. Most remuage is now carried out automatically in a girasol or gyropalette, a Spanish invention which enables hundreds of bottles to be handled at a time. The best Cavas have increasingly been produced by smaller, more artisanal firms such as Recaredo and Gramona. But the perceived mass-market image of the appellation has led to a growing disenchantment among better quality producers. By 2014 a number of them in Penedès—including Raventòs i Blanc, Albet i Noya, Mas Comptal, Loxarel, Colet, and Mas Bertran—had left the appellation altogether and joined the penedès DO. A new classification for single-vineyard Cava, Cava del Paraje Calificado, was introduced in 2014.
Freixenet
The largest producer of traditional method sparkling wine and most significant exporter of cava in the world. The brand was born at the beginning of the 20th century when Pedro Ferrer Bosch and his wife Dolores Sala Vivé decided to concentrate on sparkling wines. The company, still family-owned, was named after an estate in Mediona, penedès, which had been in Pedro Ferrer’s family since the 13th century, known as La Freixeneda, meaning a plantation of ash trees. His wife’s grandfather founded the former Sala company, which started exporting wines to the usa in the second half of the 19th century. The company was initially keen to establish export markets, a policy which has paid off in the latter half of the 20th century. It now has four production centres in San Sadurní d’Anoia: Freixenet SA, Segura Viudas SA, Castellblanch SA, and Torrelavit SA, as well as wineries in a number of do regions around Spain: Solar Viejo in Rioja, Morlanda in Priorat, Garbó in Montsant, Valdubón in Ribera del Duero, and Vionta in Rías Baixas. The combined production of Cava alone is now more than 140 million bottles per year. Best-known brands are the medium-dry Carta Nevada, launched in 1951, and Cordon Negro, a brut Cava in a distinctive black bottle. Freixenet’s overseas interests include the Bordeaux négociant Yvon Mau, Henri Abelé in Champagne, the Wingara Wine Group and Katnook Estate in Australia, Gloria Ferrer in the carneros district of California, Finca Doña Dolores, a sparkling wine estate in mexico, and Finca Ferrer in the Uco Valley of Mendoza in Argentina.
Cava
Cava DO is unusual in that it does not refer to just one geographical location. Although the vast majority of Cava is produced in Catalunya. It is also permitted to be produced in a number of other provinces spreading across one third of Spain. Constantly striving for quality, in recent years Cava research has focused on clone and rootstock combinations, canopy management techniques and the development of selected yeats strains to provide wines that are fresh, fruity, easy drinking, and above all excellent value for money.
Location- Cava
Mainly Cataluna, but also parts of Rioja, Aragon and Valencia
Climate- Cava
Warm Mediterranean
