Yes, I spent time in Barcelona a few years back and there were many good cavas, including the Raventos, that drank very nicely especially for money. None I had tried had the tennis ball small that Keith mentions. I associate that with young vines, particularly grenache, though I’ve had it also in some pinot and even red burgundy. Never in my experience in cava. I also like that it tends to be pretty low alcohol, <12%, especially nice on a hot summer’s evening.
As far as the tennis ball/plastic quality I could see what you mean in some Juve y Camps bottlings but I tend to favor the high acidity and dry nature of the wine. I also pretty much use it in any sparkling cocktails esp Aperol spritz etc. plus the price point around $12 for some is better than most any sparkling including Prosecco.
I used to go for Mestres 1312 as a mixer (Aperol Spritz, Mimosas, etc.).
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Traveling through Spain in 2020 we drank good Cava everywhere. Loved it. In the US it has been challenging to find Cava that we liked. We will buy either Raventos or Aria. But am eager to pick through this thread and try some others.
Lots of good recommendations. Thanks everyone. I’ll definitely try the Raventos and the Pere Mata. The Colet Navazos sounds really interesting as well. Even if some aren’t “perfect” for my palate, I like understanding the wine better.
This is something I’ll never understand. I’ve tried to find some good Proseccos, but I think even the best Proseccos can’t really compete with a decent Cava and offer no competition whatsoever against the top Cavas and Corpinnat wines. In my books Glera just isn’t a variety with which you can make great wines, and Proseccos seem to always be lacking in zip, freshness and structure, thanks to the lower level of natural acidity in Glera and inherently lower level of carbonation stemming from the Charmat method (compared to the traditional method that is always employed in Cava). And to be honest, very few Charmat method bubblies have ever left a particularly lasting impression on me.
I think most Prosecco is good mainly for cocktail bases, but due to Prosecco’s popularity, I think a decent medium-quality Cava is nowadays cheaper than a Prosecco of similar quality, so I really don’t see any reason to go down the Prosecco road even there.
Although Macabeo/Viura is the most widely planted variety in Spain, I don’t think it is as nearly as popular as the ubiquitous Xarel-lo in Cava - while Macabeo has more acreage in Catalonia (which, to my understanding, is covered by the DO Cava appellation), I’ve understood it is more often vinified as a white wine, whereas the most common use for Xarel-lo seems to be for the bubblies. I could be wrong, but this was the impression many producers gave when we visited Catalonia (including visits to Agusti Torelló Mata, Raventós i Blanc, Recaredo, Gramona, Pere Ventura and Parés Baltà). Another possible explanation would be that as it is the most productive and easiest-to-cultivate variety of the three traditional Cava grapes, it might be farmed mainly by the largest producers and their contract farmers, and is thus used mainly for the cheapest 2€ bulk Cavas. However, all of the quality producers we visited emphasized that Xarel-lo is the most important grape variety for quality Cava.
To my understanding, both Macabeo and Xarel-lo contribute acidity to the wines quite equally. Perhaps Xarel-lo tends to be a bit responsible for acidity more in Cava, as it is a variety that has higher acidity when picked earlier, but its acidity drops more noticeably as the grapes ripen, which - in my personal opinion - means that Xarel-lo is much better suited for sparkling wines (made with early-harversted fruit) than still wines (made with grapes harvested later). At least from my experience most of the still Xarel-los that I’ve tasted have been either quite bland and modest in acidity, or then herby (even grassy) and somewhat thin in body but with good acidity if made with fruit harvested earlier. Conversely, many still Macabeos / Viuras have been often lovely and even quite impressive. Not Catalan examples, but ie. Lopez de Heredia’s whites are almost completely Viura and can be remarkably high in acidity, even if made with quite ripe fruit. The same goes with many of the best white wines in Roussillon, which tend to be predominantly from Macabeu / Maccabeo. Probably the only memorable / impressive still Xarel-los that I’ve tasted have been wines made with very old-vine fruit and aged in oak barrels (not necessarily any new oak) - and while these have been pretty terrific in their youth, they don’t seem to develop into anything interesting with age, unlike many of the best Macabeo / Viura wines. Your comment was also the first where I’ve heard that Viura / Macabeo isn’t particularly acidic, and this also runs counter to my experience, having drunk many still Viura wines with remarkably high acidity.
From what we were told by multiple winemakers, both Xarel-lo and Macabeo are used for acidity, but Xarel-lo is also used to bring more body and fragrant herbal and floral notes as well, whereas Macabeo is aromatically somewhat more neutral, bringing more delicate, floral nuances of white flowers and such and fruit-wise is about zesty citrus notes. I’ve understood Macabeo is also used to get longevity for wines that call for extended aging. I doubt any rubbery / shower curtain notes come from Macabeo, because then you’d also see those qualities in white unoaked Riojas or Catalan whites (and it’s something I haven’t noticed).
I suspect Parellada might be the culprit for these aforementioned shower curtain characteristics, because it is the most aromatic of the three varieties (which is why I find it odd to say it has not particular exciting features) but also the lowest in acidity. It is used not only to add aromatic depth to Cavas, but also to moderate acidity levels especially in warmer vintages: you need to harvest the grapes before they reach too high potential alcohol, because nobody wants to drink 14% ABV Cavas, so producers might need to harvest their fruit at a very early stage, when the grapes are still very high in acidity. By letting Parellada ripen a bit more, they produce wines with modest alcohol and acidity, which can be blended into a Cava that would otherwise have too high acidity (it’s not uncommon to see Cavas with 7-8 g/l acidity and pH numbers hovering around 2,9 to 2,95).
On its own Parellada can be a bit unimpressive, because even if it might be aromatically more characterful, its often modest levels of acidity and alcohol don’t translate into interesting varietal wines. You really need to have very old vines in high-altitude vineyards if you want to make great varietal Parelladas or blends in which Parellada takes the lead.
However, I’ve noticed those rubbery / plastic-y notes in Cavas with no Parellada whatsoever (or any other suspected varieties, for that matter), so it might be that it really hasn’t got that much to do with certain grape varieties, but instead a combination of viticulture (ie. how the grapes are) and winemaking.
So is “all” Cava bad? Well, if you have 9 grapes, seven sweetness levels, four aging categories, that gives you 252 possibilities right there. And then you add the winemaking decisions like what percentage of what grapes to use, the harvest dates, the specific sites, the winemaking itself, e.g. battonage, etc., and the possibilities become difficult to comprehend. The problem is that in the US, a lot of Cava is brought in by the two biggest producers and it’s sold cheaply. Then there are a few higher end Cavas available. But there are literally hundreds of small-production Cavas that are rarely found outside of Spain.
100% with you here. I think a huge majority of Cava is quite bland or mediocre, some even lousy. However, the wines in the top echelon are easily world-class sparkling wines. My favorite Cava (or, in most cases nowadays, Corpinnat) producers include names mentioned often already here: Recaredo, Gramona, Agustí Torelló Mata, Raventós i Blanc, Loxarel. Especially Recaredo’s Reserva Particular has been exceptional in many vintages and has impressed me even more than their superb flagship wine Turó d’en Mota, which retails at double the price.