The world of sparkling wines also brings together a good number of clichés, although perhaps these two are the most characteristic: the sparkling wine for dessert; and the Spanish cava is as good as the champagne.
Drinking a sparkling wine with a sweet dessert makes no sense. The flavors are absolutely opposed, they do not enhance each other, quite the contrary, they cancel each other out. I cannot understand the reason for this combination that occurs, especially in the celebration of large family events, read weddings, communions, baptisms, etc. In my opinion, it is one more sign that people do not pay due attention to wine to extract maximum pleasure from it.
On the other hand, we also find a good number of patriots who affirm that cava has nothing to envy to champagne. For what I am going to say below, I must clarify that I use the word cava in a generic way, because “Cava” is a very extensive denomination of origin from which many large producers have left, precisely because it is too general. The correct thing to do would be to talk about Spanish sparkling wines, but using the word cava in a generic way, I think I will be understood better.
Let’s start from an irrefutable base. Cava and champagne are very different, they are only united by the fact that they are sparkling wines. To give an example, it would be like comparing a white wine from Galicia with another from the Rhône, or a red wine from Rioja with another from California.
Champagne is made with three varieties -or with some of them-, pinot noir, pinot meunier and chardonnay, in the northernmost area of Europe where the vine can be cultivated, with a predominance of limestone soils. In turn, Champagne is the French region where the first sparkling wines were born, thanks to the mythical monk Dom Perignon, accepting this version, which also has its history. On the contrary, cava is generally made with xarello, macabeo, parellada, chardonnay, subirat parent (malvasia), red garnacha, trepat, pinot noir and monastrell, although the first three are the most common, being in the area of Catalonia where you can find the best producers. In this way, we find different varieties, with diametrically opposite climatic zones and with soils that have nothing in common. Is it really fair to make a comparison between the two sparkling wines?
Once we must broaden our sights and realize that sparkling wines are no small joke, on the contrary, since they can provide us with great moments of happiness.