cava

I am currently taking the Champagne Master Level Course by the French Wine Society. One of the classes was devoted to sparkling wines made throughout the world. Several slides were presented about cava. Our instructor could not refrain from an occasional criticism about cava. Her first run at negativity was downgrading the grapes Macabeo, Xarel-lo and Parellada used in cava production as “not classic in any terms and have no real pedigree in sparkling winemaking.” My thought is who in the world dictates that sparkling wine should only be made from Chardonnay, Pinto Noir and Pinot Meunier? Although these three varieties reign supreme in Champagne, they are not the main varietal grapes used to produce sparkling wines universally. Cava is an example of that. So is Italy’s Prosecco made from the Glera grape. Our instructor continued to say that the main cava grape varieties give cava its characteristic style but these grapes are limited and will not create an elegant traditional method sparkling wine. Once again, who has the right to say that sparkling wines have to be elegant and producers can only achieve elegance if they use Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier?

Looking at some statistics, Spain is doing something right. Spain, with its cava, is the third largest producer of sparkling wine in the world trailing France and Italy. Italy’s second place lead is dominated by Prosecco, a sparkling wine made by the charmat method. Cava sales have exploded on the international market in recent years. Throughout Spain, there are around 244 cava producers that utilize grapes from 33,325 hectares of land. This is similar to the size of land in Champagne for grape growing. Most vineyards in Spain used for cava production are not as densely planted as vineyards in Champagne.

My thoughts about this class was there was a clear negativity towards cava, perhaps because it is competition for champagne sales. This negativity was not apparent in discussions of Italy’s Franciacorta and Prosecco. Very little of the class was devoted to sparkling wine production in the new world wine regions. Champagne creates a unique product unlike that crafted in the rest of the world. However, other sparkling wines throughout the world should also be experienced. To some consumers, cavas are a better value and pair wonderfully with tapas.

Kathy and I are going to visit the Penedés region of Catalonia and cava producers. Next year’s International Wine Tourism Conference takes place in Barcelona and cava will certainly have its place at the conference. I hope that if there are any cava producers, that exhibit at next year’s conference, they will serve some cava tastings. That would certainly trump the several champagne houses that exhibited at this years conference in Reims. They were all dry, no champagnes for tasting.

Cheers,
Terry