Have you ever wanted to know what Cava is, where it comes from and what it is made with? Well, if you have in the past or would just like to know for interest, you can find out right here. Just read on....
Cava is a Spanish sparkling wine predominantly made in the Penedès region of Catalonia, which is roughly 25 miles south of Barcelona. However, it can also be found to be produced in the Navarra, Rioja, Andalucia, Valencia and Extremadura regions too.
Cava is the Greek word, which was used to denote a high end table wine or a wine cellar, and the term originally comes from the Latin word ‘cava’, which has today’s English meaning of ‘cave’ The reason for this is that caves were used in the early days of cava production in order to help age and preserve the wine and the same time. In recent times, cava has become integrated with traditional Spanish society and is often consumed at baptism ceremonies and at weddings. The sparkling wine of cava is also sometimes given as
engagements gifts and anniversaries. Giving a
cava gift set is a fabulous way of presenting this sparkling Spanish wine.
In 1872, the sparkling wine of Cava was created by Josep Raventós after the vineyards of Penedès were devastated by the phylloxera plague, which led to the traditional red grape vines being replaced by a high quantity of vines producing white grapes. Raventós had seen the great success of
champagne from the champagne region of France and so, he decided to create a dry sparkling wine, which helped to increase the countries sparkling wine consumption around the world.
According the Denominación de Origen laws of Spain, Cava can only be produced in six wine regions and has to be made according to the traditional method with a second fermentation in the bottle. Cava is produced with a selection of grape varieties including Macabeo, Parellada, Xarel-lo, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and finally Subirat. Chardonnay is one of the main three grapes used in the production of champagne, but surprisingly wasn’t used in the manufacturing of Cava until the 1980’s.
So, there you have it. You now know that Cava is a sparkling wine produced in varying regions of Spain, and is made with a number of grape varieties.
Date posted: 26/03/2010
