Since attending the 50 Great Cavas media tour last October, I have had several cavas over the months. I am quite impressed with the sparkling wines especially those produced from native grapes Xarel-lo, Macabeo and Parellada. We are visiting our daughter and son-in-law in the Dayton area of Ohio and I forgot to bring a bottle of cava I brought back from Spain. We went to a wine shop in search for a cava and were rather disappointed in what they had to offer. It seems that cavas have not made much of a splash in the middle of the country.

There were a couple made predominantly of Chardonnay, I wasn’t interested in those. I did find one made from Xarel-lo, Macabeo and Parellada and decided to give it a try. The store had a 2012 Naverán Brut. The blend was 50% Xarel-lo, 30% Macabeo and 20% Parellada. The yellow color sparkling wine had an abundance of bubbles that persisted even though we were drinking the cava in a red wine glass. There was citrus on the aroma and taste. The 11.5% alcohol wine retailed for $14 at a local Dayton wine shop.

Perhaps the cava producers in Spain should mount a pr campaign in the United States similar to the wine producers in Rioja. Cavas are affordable and offer a variety of styles made with several different grape varieties. Throughout the next few months, our attention will move to champagnes. Kathy and I are attending the International Wine Tourism Conference in Champagne, France in April.

Cheers,
Terry