There’s recently been a lot of talk about Cava, the wonderful sparkling wine of Spain. Indeed, I’m happy to plead ‘guilty as charged’, because I’ve been one of the many who have been talking-up Cava.
My recent ‘Cork Talk’ about Cava de Paraje Calificada, the new designation which puts the best Cavas on the same prestige and quality level as fine Champagne, also referred, albeit briefly, about Premium Cava. It’s time now time to talk-up this, perhaps now the second tier of quality when it comes to Cava.
Regular readers will know that before a Cava can be called such, it has to have had a minimum of nine months ‘en rima’, where the bottle is kept upside down, with the dead yeast in the neck of the bottle. You’ll also know that I regularly castigate those who are making the Cava that is sold in certain supermarkets for under €2. Such Cavas, presumably, do obey the rule, but the moment that nine months have been clocked up, they are out on the shelves.
