Great Things to Know about Spanish Cava



The woman behind TheGastroMagazine, chief editor, food lover, polyglot, aviator…
When you pop open a bottle of Cava, you must be in the midst of a fine dining experience.
This sparkling white wine, born in Spain, is a rich blend of delicate taste and heritage. Relished at mealtimes or happy hours, a bottle of Segura Viudas can pique your taste buds day or night. Nonetheless, this is not the first choice of a gastronomy session for many. People don’t have enough information about Cava to savour it thoroughly. There are some significant aspects to this wine you should know about.
Wine Making Process
If you want to show off Cava wine in front of your friends, you should know it’s made much like champagne. This, in the world of gourmet aficionados, is the méthode champenoise. Briefly put, a second fermentation takes place in the bottle. Sugar and yeast are added to the wine, and then it’s corked. This is what results in those rippling bubbles.
The Name
Why does Cava wine have the word ‘Cava’ in it? ‘Cava’ means ‘cave’ in the Catalan language. So Cava takes its name from the cool caves underground. Here, the still wine is stored to transform it into a bubbly consistency. Paying homage to Catalonia, Cava wine gets its name from this root from where the wine originates.
Indigenous Grapes
Fine dining experts are aware of the importance of native raw material that gives the most distinctive wines around the world their flavour. Predominant grape varieties that make Cava a gourmet delight are Xarel-lo, Parellada and Macabeo. These combine to produce a wine that is so sparkling, all bottles of Cava seem to shine. Each grape variety has a distinctive purpose that contributes to the overall taste. Xarel-lo gives it structure, Macabeo creates acidity plus freshness, and Parellada gives the wine a rich, creamy character.
Cava Rosado
In gastronomy, even laypeople know white wine is suited to meals with fish, and red wine goes with meat. Like Garnacha and the local Trepat, red grapes are used to produce Cava Rose, a full-bodied red wine.
Texture and Taste
You get Cava wines in different tastes and textures, ranging from the driest to the sweetest. The driest variety has around zero to three grams of sugar for each bottle of wine. From this base variety, the sweetness grows to Brut, Extra Dry, Dry, Semi-Dry and lastly, Sweet.
A Wine for All Seasons
Much more than an appetizer and a dessert beverage (although it goes well with hors-d’oeuvres), the crispness of Cava can be a compliment to rich entrées. Furthermore, you don’t have to restrict its use to Spanish foods like tapas. It can serve as a hearty cleanser for any fried food. It tends to lighten comfort food, and you can have it with fresh seafood to juicy red meat and poultry. The balance that Cava wine provides is almost perfect in any fine dining atmosphere. Furthermore, Thai and Indian food is complimented ideally with a fruity Cava wine variety.
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The woman behind TheGastroMagazine, chief editor, food lover, polyglot, aviator and a globetrotter. Emma enjoys Moroccan, Spanish, Italian, Greek and Caribbean food a lot. Cheese & chocolate are her biggest addictions. However, she is really considering becoming Vegan one day.