Montsarra Cava

Cava, a sparkling wine which is made in exactly the same way as Champagne, has fully established its identity in markets abroad in the last thirty years. Native grapes, a warmer climate and the growing country all contribute to its distinctive character. The heartland of Cava making is the country around Sant Sadurní d'Anoia in southern Barcelona province, where specialised bodegas - or Cava houses - have been producing on a commercial scale since the end of the 19th century. Today this area makes 85% of all Cava. However, today's regulated growing area includes 160 muncipalities in seven Spanish regions. As for Champagne, each producer makes a particular cuvée from vineyards anywhere within the demarcated zone. The Cuvée may be one of seven types of Cava, distinguished by the level of sweetness. The bodegas are highly mechanized. It was here, for example, that the mechanization of bottle-turning was invented. Cava's name derives from the Spanish word for an underground cellar, which became the term for the production method now known simply as 'método tradicional' (traditional method), in Spanish, and is now protected, so that bottles do not necessarly have to quote the DO status. New developments include the increased planting of Chardonnay grapes, vinification in satellite bodegas built in the vineyards, and a review of regulations to introduce the quoting of the vintage year on labels of Brut and Brut Nature Cavas. Today Cava is second only to Champagne in world sales of sparkling wines.

HISTORY Lluís Just i Villanueva (1834-80), an oenologist from Madrid, taught the basic principles for making quality sparkling wine in the wine chemistry classes he gave at the Laboratori de l'Institut Agricola de Sant Isidre in Barcelona. He also worked as technical director for one of the pioneering makers, Agustí Vilaret i Centrich (1820-1903), from Gerona province. He experimented with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes from Champagne, in northern France, as well as other native varieties. Other early pioneers included Francesc Gil, Miquel Esquirol and Josep Raventós i Fatjo (1824-85), who was the first winemaker to produce Cava on a large commercially successful scale. His son Manuel was one of a group of winemakers from the Sant Sadurní d'Anoia area who experimented with sparkling wine and shared their results. They concluded that it was necessary to build specifically designed bodegas, to source grapes from cool upland zones, and to source sturdy bottles that would reliably resist the pressure. Josep Raventós i Fatjó made the investment required for all three critical factors and laid down the first Cava made on a large commercial scale in 1872. Many other makers followed his example over the next two decades. Profits came quickly due to phylloxera destroying the French Champagne vineyards. From 1877 Spanish xampán, as it was then called, replaced French Champagne at the Spanish court. In 1883 Spain agreed not to use the term xampán and began to call the wines 'espumosos'. When Catalonia itself was attacked by phylloxera, Marc Mir i Capella, a winemaker from Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, discovered that it was possible to graft vines onto American rootstock, and his example was quickly followed locally, allowing the Cava producers to make a rapid recovery. -Information From "winesfromspain.com"