44 twentyfoursevenvalencia
VALENCIA CAVA
VALENCIA CAVA Valencia’s bubbles just right for Xmas and Three Kings! It’s Christmas time again! What better way to celebrate with Valencia’s very own cava over the festive season? Valencian Cava? Well, yes! A Brief History of Cava
Historically, cava was a sparkling wine made in Cataluña, the word meaning cave or cellar in which the first wines were stored and made. Josep Raventós is credited with being the first to make this wine around 1860 (marketing it from 1870 onwards) following his visits to the Champagne region of France. The grape varieties are Xarel-lo, Parellada, Chardonnay, Macabeo, Malvasia, (whites) and Pinot Noir, Trepat and Garnacha for reds. Of course, following the famous European court case which ruled that only wines produced in that area could be called Champagne, the Catalans adopted cava as their name for sparkling wines made by the ‘traditional method’ for wines which used to be called Spanish champagne.
Now following a court case in the Superior Tribunal of Justice in Spain, cava is defined as a sparkling wine made by the traditional method from designated regional areas of Spain. DO Cava is not therefore a single area within Spain but a type of wine made in about 10 specific areas including Valencia…..or actually Requena. How is Cava Made?
The traditional method is exactly the same as used in England, Champagne and other parts of the world. The grapes are picked, fermented and a base wine is created. Subsequently the varieties can be blended and may be aged in oak or stainless steel. They are then given a dose of yeast and sugar and bottled usually with a crown cork. A second fermentation takes place in the bottle. When the fermentation is over, the wine is left in the bottle with the decaying yeasts. This will be for a minimum of 10 months to allow it to be called cava. After about 15 months, autolysis begins and the dead yeasts start to give the wines a little more body and depth and the notes of patisserie or brioche that you always find in quality wines made by this method. The longer the wines are left in contact with the yeasts, the
greater the depth and complexity of flavour. Finally the bottles are turned upside down in a machine (these days) until the dead yeast collects in the neck against the crown cork. This part is then frozen, as the cork is removed the plug is ejected and the bottle can then be topped up with ‘licor d’expedición’, which may contain varying levels of sugar and defines whether it is Brut Nature (the driest), Brut, Semi Seco or Semi Dulce (sweetest). Cavas from Requena
Cava can only be produced from vineyards in the boundaries of Requena and its designated hamlets. It can only be produced from designated varieties and these are generally macabeo and chardonnay. A little xarel-lo and parellada is grown mostly by grafting cuttings onto root stocks of other varieties. In red varieties, garnacha and pinot noir are used to produce rosé or rosado cavas. There is no red cava. There are only a small number of producers who form the Association of Cava producers from Requena. Other bodegas may sell cava with their own labels but it must have been produced by a licensed bodega.