For years, the best winemakers complained about cava’s downscale fizz
image. There are reasons for that. First of all, two huge companies,
Freixenet and Codorníu, dominate the category, and they churn out a lot
of inexpensive wine. Second, the definition of cava is pretty loose.
Even though the cool Penedès region in Catalonia is cava’s home
territory, sparkling wine in places as far-flung as Rioja can also use
"cava" on the label.
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The potential for top wines has always been there, in grapes and
winemaking method. Cava is made the same way Champagne is: Winemakers
bottle a basic still wine and add a yeast mixture so the wine referments
in the bottle, creating bubbles. But since most top producers use one
or more local grapes—macabeao, parellada, and xarel-lo, which brings
body and structure—the taste and style are different from Champagne.
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