ES: Cava

Question 1

Cava’s History
- 1st producer / town

Answer 1

Josep Raventos, 1872 - for family’s Cororniu label
Sant Sidurní di Anoia
- 1st traditional method sparkling - using Xarello, Parellada, Macabeo
- Pedro Ferrer and Dolores Sala (Freixenet founders) came next in 1914
- called Champaña until 1972, when law adopted Cava

Question 2

PENEDES DO
- lay of the land
- climate

Answer 2

CLIMATE: Mediterranean - with some maritime spots near coastal hills

[about 25k hectares of vines for all styles. 100% organic DO-wide since 2005. “Organic and Mediterranean”. There’s 10 subzones, with the higher areas reaching 500 - 800M. There’s a lot of diversity in climate.. ranging Winkler 1 to Winkler 3]

Question 3

The 3 companies behind 90% of Cava?

Answer 3

1. Freixenet (Cordon Negro, Carta Nevada labels)
2. Codorníu
3. García Carrión

[Freixenet and Codorniu produce 95% of Cava DO. Champagne and Cava cover roughly the same amount of vineyard; yet Champagne has ~5k producer compared to Cava’s 287]

Question 4

What 7 autonomous communities can Cava be produced in?

Answer 4

Catalonia
Extremadura, Valencia
Aragon, Navarra
Basque Country
La Rioja

Question 5

CAVA - GRAPES
- auth. varieties
- top 3 planted?
- % of reds for rosé + methods

Answer 5

WHITE:
1. Macabeo
2. Xarel-lo
3. Parrelada
4. Chardonnay
5. Malvasia

RED: Trepat, Pinot Noir, Monastrell, Garnacha
* min 25% red grapes for rosado - can be made via saignee, maceration, blending

Question 6

Cava’s Macharmo
- what is it
- colors / designation / lees

Answer 6

Macharmo: the quality label on a bottle of Cava that guarantees the bottle’s origins and authenticity by the Cava Regulatory Council

GREEN: Cava de Guarda, 9m

CAVA DE GUARDA SUPERIORs….
SILVER: Reserva, 18m
GOLD: Gran Reserva, 30m
ANTIQUE GOLD RHOMBOID: Cava de Paraje Calificada, 36m

Question 7

Grower-Producer Cava
- name of stamp
- min %
- name 3

Answer 7

ELBORADOR INTEGRAL
Cava DO - stamp to indicate producers who complete the entire process on estate, from vine to bottle
[100% produced on own estate]

(19 as of 3/27/26)
Avinyó
Vins El Cep
Juve y Camps
Pares Balta
Can Sala

Question 8

Cava DO zones (4)

Answer 8

1. Comtats de Barcelona (95% of Cava is from here)
2. Valle del Ebro (has 2 subzones of its own)
3. Viñedos de Almendralejo
4. Zona de Levante (Cava de Requena)

** labelling by zone is optional. Added to rulebook in 2020. Winery must be in subzone and 100% of grapes must come from said subzone.

Question 9

Cava DO Comtats de Barcelona subzones (5)

Answer 9

Valls d’Anoia-Foix
Serra de Mar
Conca del Gaià
Serra de Prades
Pla de Ponent

[Cava de Guarda Superior only can label by subzone: if labelled by subzone (Valle d’Ebro and Comtats de Barcelona only), 100% must be from said subzone and from a winery located in said subzone.]

Question 10

CAVA DE GUARDA / SUPERIOR
- what does it all mean
- min vine age / max yield
- levels & lees aging

Answer 10

Jan 2022 update to rules splits Cava DO into 2 quality levels.

SUPERIOR Includes Reserva (18m), Gran Reserva (30m), and Paraje Calificado (36m) categories.

1. Vintage dated
2. organic
3. vines at least 10 years old
4. max yield at 10 tons/ha
5. wine traceable from vine to bottle

if labelled by subzone (Valle d’Ebro and Comtats de Barcelona only), 100% must be from said subzone and from a winery located in said subzone.
[Cava de Guarda covers the basic 9m Cava]

Question 11

Cava’s single vineyard category
- name
- min vine age
- aging
- styles

Answer 11

Cava de Paratge Qualificat
Single vyd, hand-harvest fruit
* min 10yr old vines
* min 36-month tirage
* min TA is 5.5 g/l
* No acidification
* vintage-dated

ONLY Brut, Extra Brut, or Brut Nature.

Question 12

Classic Penedés
- what is it / year est.
- principal ideas (3)
- rules: aging, pressure, etc
- min and max times on lees
- min abv

Answer 12

Part of Penedes DO, est 2014
100% organic, 100% Penedes, 100% Reserva

• vintage dated only; disgorgement required on label
• min 3.5 bars atm
• 15m on lees, min for traditional and ancestral method. Ancestral with 4+ years on lees can label “no degollat”
• longer than 15m? labels Reserva3, Reserva4, etc up to Reserva15
• min 11% ABV

Question 13

Aging terms for Classic Penedés sparkling

Answer 13

15 months - for Ancestral Method too
- Reserva3, Reserva4, etc can indicate lees aging up to 15 years
(essentially, starts at Cava’s reserva level)
- ancestral method with 4+ yrs on lees can release sans disgorgement and label as such

Question 14

Classic Penedés movement “pioneers” (3)

Answer 14

Albet i Noya
Colet
AT Roca

Question 15

Corpinnat
- name/what is it
- year of approval
- name 3 commitments (6)

Answer 15

“Heart of the Penedes”, est 2017
“a collective European Brand with the aim of distinguishing great sparkling wines made in the heart of the Penedes from 100% organic grapes harvested by hand and vinified entirely on premise”

Commitments:
1. 100% organic vineyards
2. Manual harvest
3. vinified on premise
4. long ageing
5. historic varieites
6. owned/long contract sourcing (no purchased juice)

Question 16

Corpinnat varietal requirements

Answer 16

> 90% Indigenous:
WHITE: Xarel-lo, Parrelada, Malvasia
ROSÉ: Garnatxa Negre, Montastrell, Sumoll, Xarel-lo Vermell

<10% non-Indigenous: Chard, Pinot, Trepat

Question 17

Corpinnat aging requirements

Answer 17

Corpinnat: 18m
Reserva: 30m
60m for at least 1 cuvee

Question 18

CORPINNAT - PRODUCERS
- 6 founders
- 5 joiners

Answer 18

The founding 6:
1. Gramona
2. Sabate i Coca
3. Torello
4. Recaredo
5. Llopart
6. Nadal

the 5 joiners…..
7. Can Feixes
8. Julia Bernet
9. Mas Candi
10. Can Descegut
11. Pardas

Question 19

Name 3 of Corpinnat’s 7 subzones?

Answer 19

1. Alta Penedes
2. Alta Campo
3. Anoia
4. Baix Llobregat
5. Baix Pendes
6. Garraf
7. Tarragones

Question 20

Cava “Alternatives” - the other designations

Answer 20

2) Classic Penedes (part of Penedes DO) - 2013
- Albet i Noya, AT Roca, Colet
- required organic grapes, not purchased still wines

3) Corpinnat (a European Union brand) - est. 2015, EU-recognized in 2017
- Recardo, Gramona, Llopart, Torello, Nadal, Sabate i Coca

1) Conca del Riu Anoia - 2012
Raventos i Blanc
Est. 2012 by Pepe Raventos upon his departure from the Cava DO. Not legally recognized and they are the only to partake.
- 100% organic, indigenous grapes only from vines at least 10 years old, rests on lees for at least 18 months
- a subzone of sorts - the name references the Anoia and Foix Rivers

Question 21

Penedes DO logo?

Answer 21

Goddess Demeter, based on 3rd century bust discovered in the region

Question 22

Gyropalette
- who / when invented it
- decade of first use
- speed vs. hand riddling

Answer 22

Invented in France by Jacques Ducoin and Claude Cazals, patented in 1968. First used in 1970’s by Codorniu.

Gyropalette/girasol = 3 days
Hand riddling = up to 6 weeks

Question 23

Name 3 Cava de Paraje Calificado bottlings?

Answer 23

• Vins el Cep - Can Prats, Claror (X,M,P; 36m+)
• Vins el Cep - Can Prats, MIM Natura Blanc de Noirs (PN; 36m+)
• Juve y Camps - La Capella (X; 150m+)