ES: Cava and other Spanish sparkling Flashcards
What 3 companies producer 90% of Cava wine?
Freixenet, Codorníu, and García Carrión
[Freixenet and Codorniu produce 95% of Cava DO. Champagne and Cava cover roughly the same amount of vineyard; yet Champagne has ~5k producer compared to Cava’s 287]
Penedes climate?
Mediterranean
Penedes DO logo?
Goddess Demeter, based on 3rd century bust discovered in the region
Cava Grapes - red and white
WHITE: Parellada, Macabeo, Xarel-lo, Chardonnay, Malvasia
RED: Pinot, Monastrell, Garnacha, Trepat
[update took away “Trepat for rosé only” - no more recommended or authorized]
What town is the birthplace of Cava?
Sant Sidurní di Anoia
What is the Spanish term for a gyropalette?
girasol
What 7 autonomous communities can Cava be produced in?
Catalonia
Extremadura, Valencia
Aragon, Navarra
Basque Country
La Rioja
Cava DO zones (4)
- Comtats de Barcelona (95% of Cava is from here)
- Valle del Ebro (has 2 subzones of its own)
- Viñedos de Almendralejo
- Zona de Levante (Cava de Requena)
** labelling by zone is optional
Cava DO Comtats de Barcelona subzones (5)
Valls d’Anoia-Foix
Serra de Mar
Conca del Gaià
Serra de Prades
Pla de Ponent
[Cava de Guarda Superior only can label by subzone: if labelled by subzone (Valle d’Ebro and Comtats de Barcelona only), 100% must be from said subzone and from a winery located in said subzone.]
What is the most planted Cava grape?
- Macabeo
- Xarel-lo
- Parrelada
What does the Cava de Guarda Superior designation indicate?
Jan 2022 update to rules splits Cava DO into 2 quality levels.
SUPERIOR Includes Reserva (18m), Gran Reserva (30m), and Paraje Calificado (36m) categories.
- Vintage dated
- organic
- vines at least 10 years old
- max yield at 10 tons/ha
- wine traceable from vine to bottle
if labelled by subzone (Valle d’Ebro and Comtats de Barcelona only), 100% must be from said subzone and from a winery located in said subzone.
[Cava de Guarda covers the basic 9m Cava]
What does a green label on a bottle of Cava indicate?
Cava de Guarda
(macharmo)
What color label for Cava Reserva?
Silver macharmo
(18 months on lees)
What color label for Cava Gran Reserva?
Gold Macharmo
(30 months on lees)
Macharmo for Cava Paraje Calificado
Antique gold/rhomboid shape macharmo
Cava de Guarda would carry what color macharmo?
Green macharmo
9 months aging
How long does Cava Paraje Calificado stay on the lees?
Min. 36 months from date of tirage
[Cava DO has 4 aging requirement tiers - de Guarda (9m), Reserva (18m), Gran Rsva (30m), and Paraje Calificado (36m)]
Cava Paraje Calificado is limited to what 3 styles?
Brut Nature, Brut, Extra Brut
Who is the largest producer of Cava?
2nd largest?
- Freixenet
[makes Cordon Negro and Carta Nevada] - Codorniu
Who is credited with producing the 1st Spanish traditional method wine and when?
Josep Raventos
1872
Classic Penedés
- what is it / year est.
- principal ideas (3)
- rules: aging, pressure, etc
- min and max times on lees
- min abv
Part of Penedes DO, est 2014
100% organic, 100% Penedes, 100% Reserva
- vintage dated only; disgorgement required on label
- min 3.5 bars atm
- 15m on lees, min for traditional and ancestral method. Ancestral with 4+ years on lees can label “no degollat”
- longer than 15m? labels Reserva3, Reserva4, etc up to Reserva15
- min 11% ABV
Aging terms for Classic Penedés sparkling
15 months - for Ancestral Method too
- Reserva3, Reserva4, etc can indicate lees aging up to 15 years
(essentially, starts at Cava’s reserva level)
- ancestral method with 4+ yrs on lees can release sans disgorgement and label as such
Classic Penedés movement “pioneers” (3)
Albet i Noya
Colet
AT Roca
Corpinnat
- name/what is it
- year of approval
- name 3 commitments (6)
“Heart of the Penedes”, est 2017
“a collective European Brand with the aim of distinguishing great sparkling wines made in the heart of the Penedes from 100% organic grapes harvested by hand and vinified entirely on premise”
Commitments:
1. 100% organic vineyards
2. Manual harvest
3. vinified on premise
4. long ageing
5. historic varieites
6. owned/long contract sourcing (no purchased juice)
Corpinnat varietal requirements
> 90% Indigenous:
WHITE: Xarel-lo, Parrelada, Malvasia
ROSÉ: Garnatxa Negre, Montastrell, Sumoll, Xarel-lo Vermell
<10% non-Indigenous: Chard, Pinot, Trepat
Corpinnat aging requirements
Corpinnat: 18m
Reserva: 30m
60m for at least 1 cuvee
Name 3 Corpinnat producers.
The founding 6:
1. Gramona
2. Sabate i Coca
3. Torello
4. Recaredo
5. Llopart
6. Nadal
the 5 joiners…..
7. Can Feixes
8. Julia Bernet
9. Mas Candi
10. Can Descegut
11. Pardas
Can a Corpinnat producer use the Cava designation? Can they label as Penedés DO?
Penedés yes, Cava no
What is a “marchamo”?
Found above the main back label on a bottle of Cava - the labels are color coded to indicate aging
Name 3 of Corpinnat’s 7 subzones?
- Alta Penedes
- Alta Campo
- Anoia
- Baix Llobregat
- Baix Pendes
- Garraf
- Tarragones
Who produced the first Cava and in what year?
José Raventos (Codorniu) 1872
What option does a Classic Penedes producer have to indicate that their wine has aged on the lees for longer periods of time?
Reserva3, Reserva4, etc - can use this to indicate lees aging from 3 to 15 years
How long does a gyropalette take vs hand riddling?
Gyropalette/girasol = 3 days
Hand riddling = up to 6 weeks
Name 3 of Corpinnat’s founding wineries?
- Gramona
- Llopart
- Recaredo
- Sabate i Coca
- Torello
- Nadal
What is the Conca del Riu Anoia designation?
Est. 2012 by Pepe Raventos upon his departure from the Cava DO. Not legally recognized and they are the only to partake.
- 100% organic, indigenous grapes only from vines at least 10 years old, rests on lees for at least 18 months
- a subzone of sorts - the name references the Anoia and Foix Rivers
labelling thing that designates grower-producer Cava
Cava DO - stamp to indicate producers who complete the entire process on estate, from vine to bottle
[100% produced on own estate]
Cava’s single vineyard category
- name
- min vine age
- aging
- styles
Cava de Paratge Qualificat
Single vyd, hand-harvest fruit
* min 10yr old vines
* min 36-month tirage
* min TA is 5.5 g/l
* No acidification
* vintage-dated
ONLY Brut, Extra Brut, or Brut Nature.
What is a macharmo
the quality label on a bottle of Cava that guarantees the bottle’s origins and authenticity by the Cava Regulatory Council
Penedes Subzones
- Alts d’Ancosa
- Conca del Foix
- Costers del Anoia
- Costers de Lavernó
- Costers del Montmell
- Marina del Garraf
- Massís del Garraf
- Muntanyes d’Ordal
- Turons de Vilafranca
- Vall Bitlles-Anoia.
