Wednesday, March 03, 2010

A Dry Spanish Sparkler for Champagne Lovers

If you think all Cava is fruity, perfectly enjoyable, but not too interesting--think again. (image from the great LA Food blog, Food She Thought, where you can also read another review of this wine)

I had a great bottle of Cava lately, and it made me realize I just don't know that much about the stuff other than it's from Spain, has bubbles, and is usually affordable.

The wine was the German Gilabert Brut Nature Reserva (domaineLA, $14.99; available elsewhere for $14-$15). This interesting Cava had a price point under $15 and an aromatic profile like Champagne: yeast, lemon pith, and mineral notes. It is dry--and I do mean dry--with no sugar added (the technical term is dosage). Bright, intense lemon and bread dough flavors are accented by a bit of stoniness in the aftertaste. Fine, abundant, active bubbles make for a very fresh, brisk feeling in the mouth, although the overall impression is rather creamy despite the dryness.

If tasted blind, I think that most would think it was a French sparkler, perhaps an inexpensive Champagne. And if you like very dry sparkling wine but have steered clear of Cava in the past fearing it might be too fruit-forward for your tastes, I think you will be pleasantly surprised by this.
{"cc_re__cc_re__cc_by_3_0": ["dit' href='//www.blogger.com/rearrange?blogID=6053780638267491912&widgetType=HTML&widgetId=HTML20&action=editWidget&sectionId=sidebar-right-1' onclick='return _WidgetManager._PopupConfig(document.getElementById(\"HTML20\"));' target='configHTML20' title='Edit'>\n<img alt='' height='18' src='https://resources.blogblog.com/img/icon18_wrench_allbkg.png' width='18'/>\n</a>\n</span>\n</span>\n<div class='clear'></div>\n</div><div class='widget HTML' data-version='1' id='HTML10'>\n<div class='widget-content'>\n<a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/\" rel=\"license\"><img alt=\"Creative Commons License\" style=\"border-width:0\" src=\"http://creativecommons.org/images/public/somerights20.png\"/></a><br/>This work is licensed under a <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/\" rel=\"license\">Creative Commons Attribution 3.0  License</a>.\n</div>\n<div class='clear'></div>\n<span class='widget-item-control'>\n<span class='item-control blog-admin'>\n<a class='quickedit' href='//www.blogger.com/rearrange?blogID=6053780638267491912&widgetType=HTML&widgetId=HTML10&a", "'configHTML20' title='Edit'>\n<img alt='' height='18' src='https://resources.blogblog.com/img/icon18_wrench_allbkg.png' width='18'/>\n</a>\n</span>\n</span>\n<div class='clear'></div>\n</div><div class='widget HTML' data-version='1' id='HTML10'>\n<div class='widget-content'>\n<a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/\" rel=\"license\"><img alt=\"Creative Commons License\" style=\"border-width:0\" src=\"http://creativecommons.org/images/public/somerights20.png\"/></a><br/>This work is licensed under a <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/\" rel=\"license\">Creative Commons Attribution 3.0  License</a>.\n</div>\n<div class='clear'></div>\n<span class='widget-item-control'>\n<span class='item-control blog-admin'>\n<a class='quickedit' href='//www.blogger.com/rearrange?blogID=6053780638267491912&widgetType=HTML&widgetId=HTML10&action=editWidget&sectionId=sidebar-right-1' onclick='return _WidgetManager._PopupConfig(document.getElementById(\"HTML10\"));' target='configHTML10' title='Edit'>\n<img alt='' height='18' src='https://resources.blogblog.com/img/icon18"], "copyright__copyright__copyright": ["re accented by a bit of stoniness in the aftertaste. Fine, abundant, active bubbles make for a very fresh, brisk feeling in the mouth, although the overall impression is rather creamy despite the dryness.\n\nIf tasted blind, I think that most would think it was a French sparkler, perhaps an inexpensive Champagne. And if you like very dry sparkling wine but have steered clear of Cava in the past fearing it might be too fruit-forward for your tastes, I think you will be pleasantly surprised by this."]}