Listen, I love Champagne.
I love Champagne more than is reasonable. I’ll be traveling to Champagne in August and I’m sure you’ll get to hear me waxing all poetic about it. But y’all,* Champagne is expensive. The wine business does not pay me enough to drink the things I’ve learned to love on my road into the wine business. The American traditional method sparkling wines I love - Iron Horse, Schramsberg, etc. - run into the same price ranges as Champagne, and I don’t begrudge them that, since they’re taking the same care with their farming and using the same lengthy winemaking and aging processes. I just can’t be popping $50+ bottles every day, and I suspect many of you relate. What’s a bubbly-loving person to do?
Obviously there are many other options: Prosecco, Pet Nats, a myriad of American sparkling producers whose offerings run at a lower price point. There are sparkling wines from all over the world, most of them significantly cheaper than Champagne. I could go with Cremant, which is French sparkling made in the traditional method but somewhere other than the specific region of Champagne.
But most of the time, I’m going to reach for a bottle of Cava.
Cava is made using the same processes as Champagne, with the second fermentation occurring in the bottle, and a dosage of some combination of additional wine and sugar added before sealing to bring the wine to the desired level of sweetness. Josep Raventós brought the traditional method to Spain from France in 1872, when the vineyards of Champagne were being taken out by phylloxera and Spain was suddenly positioned well to produce and sell sparkling wine. Cava is made using grapes native to Spain: mostly Xarel-lo, Parellada, and Macabeo, but other grapes such as Monastrell, Garnacha, Pinot Noir, and Chardonnay are allowed. The taste of Cava tends not to be as nutty as Champagne (particularly vintage Champagne), but rather more zingy and refreshing.
The caveat to that is that quality Cava producers (including the Raventós family descended from founder Josep) are using the exact same methods as Champagne producers - high quality fruit, careful vintage selection, long aging on lees - to create premium, vintage expressions of Cava that have similar depth and complexity. And they still tend to be much less expensive than premium Champagne.
Why? It’s not just because of geography or name recognition, although that does play a role.
Well, traditional method sparkling wine must be turned throughout its aging and shifted so the lees (yeast cells) end up in the neck of the bottle. This process is called riddling. Premium Champagnes are still hand-riddled by individual humans who turn each and every bottle and keep track of it throughout its years in process. Some premium Cava is hand-riddled (and some Champagne is not!), but overall, Spanish sparkling producers have been much more likely to embrace gyropalettes that riddle many bottles at the same time, and sometimes total mechanization of the riddling, disgorging, and bottling process.
I’m a big fan of the current Raventós offerings, especially the 2021 De Nit, which is extra brut** and ever so slightly rosé with the addition of Monastrell. I’ve also been getting into the smaller producer Alta Alella. For price point comparison, pretty basic, non-vintage Champagne starts around $50-60, while these really delicious Cavas will run you $25-30, and a simple (and yes, mass-produced) but very drinkable Cava will only set you back $10-15.
If you’re perusing the Cava section in a store with a good selection, you might also come across another favorite of mine, Llopart - but because wine is complicated, Llopart isn’t a Cava anymore at all; it’s a Corpinnat. Corpinnat means “heart of Penedes,” the area where most Cava has been traditionally grown and produced. But the law allows for Cava to be made anywhere in Spain, and the regulations for production and aging are fairly loose. A small group of producers in Penedes wanted to distinguish their wines from mass-produced Cava, and so they began an entirely different labeling system that was ratified by the EU in 2017. Corpinnat grapes must be 100% organic, harvested by hand, and grown within the designated territory of Corpinnat. A minimum of 90% of the grapes in Corpinnat must be indigenous. The wines must also be vinified and aged entirely on winery premises within Corpinnat territory, and aged at least 18 months.
Next time you’re looking for a bottle of bubbly for a celebration or just because, consider a Cava or Corpinnat. It feels as festive as a Champagne but often with more bang for your buck.
*I work in Kentucky now, so I’m allowed to say “y’all.”
**The scale of sparkling wine sweetness from driest to sweetest is Brut Nature, Extra Brut, Brut, Extra Dry, Dry, Demi-Sec, Doux. The extra brut De Nit I mentioned above contains less than 6g residual sugar per liter.
News and Notes
I have a few tastings coming up both online and in person. The next one is online on July 23 at 2pm EST: “Red Blends: The Good, the Bad, and the Embarrassing.” It’s only $10 and half price for paid subscribers. I send you a suggested list of four wines that are either readily available in any market or have enough flexibility that you can find something to fit the category. You do not need to be drinking exactly the same wines I am, because we’re mostly learning how to taste whatever is in your glass, and how to choose wines you are going to love. Find a full list of my upcoming events on the Just a Smidge website.
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