2005 Marques de Gelida Cava Brut Reserve

[hotwine]

Nice festive bubbly to begin the long weekend. Very pretty salmon color, a bit yeasty on the nose but not offensive; soft, luscious mouthfeel, very nice indeed. Finish is just right. From Pinot Noir, probably the nicest rose' I've had. 11.5% alc/vol and $9.99 at Costco. Using as a sipper before supper, then with an omelet. Hope they don't sell out before I have a chance to stock up. Happy Fourth to all!

[wdonovan]

PN? This isn't the traditional Cava grape is it? What is?

[hotwine]

Cava is the Spanish methode champenoise sparkling wine, and I'm under the impression is's most often made, if a rosado, from Garnacha (Grenache) grapes. Certainly the Gelida is not like any rosado I've had before; it's a much more elegant bubbly than your run of the mill cava. But did notice that it lost its fizz pretty quickly, after only a couple of hours... so will use a Champagne clamp-down type stopper to get us through the evening next time (probably tonight).

[wdonovan]

So Cava is not bound by the 'normal' European winemaking rules - region, grape, method? I ask because I've given up on Cava because of an underlying astringency that obviously is related to grape variety. If there are other grapes in some Cavas, I may be interested in trying them.

[Thomas]

Six wine regions of Spain can produce Cava, but Penedes is the primary region. Six grapes can be used to make the stuff, two of them are Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, but I don't think Garnacha is one of the six.

[hotwine]

Research on the 'Net indicates Garnacha, Pinot Noir, Monastrell and Trepat can all be used to make Cava Rosado.

That underlying astringency in most Cava is the main reason I've shied away from it, and only tried this one because its label clearly indicated it was from Pinot Noir. Sure enough, found it to be a winner for our house.

[This message has been edited by hotwine (edited 07-04-2009).]

[Thomas]

Yeah, I found out that they added two more grape varieties to the six. So now it's 8 varieties. Originally, Cava was white and it was three white grape varieties, and it was Penedes.

They keep doing this, who needs the DOC?

[wdonovan]

"They keep doing this, who needs the DOC?"

Maybe they heard the French are extending the Champagne region all the way to Germany. [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb/biggrin.gif[/img] [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb/biggrin.gif[/img] [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb/biggrin.gif[/img]

[hotwine]

Took one these to our Sunday night group gathering last night and it disappeared quickly. Will have tonight as a sipper and with cedar-plank salmon.