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 Expected to be announced earlier on May 24, 2016, the date was apparently postponed twice before the final announced was made at a ceremonial speech by Pedro Bonet, President of the Cava Regulatory Council at Palau de la Musica Catalana in Barcelona on Monday June 13. The top quality Cava, entitled Cava de Paraje Calificado-single estate Cavas produced in conformity with the stringent criteria set by the Council was launched.
Bonet said the qualification had been created in order to place Cavas at the top of the quality wine pyramid and to do justice to it as a quality sparkling wine. To qualify for Cava de Paraje Calificado the wines have to be produced from grapes grown in single vineyards that are at least 10 years old. Grapes must be hand-picked in the vineyard with a maximum yield of 8 tons/ hA. Fermentation must be carried out at the estate only and have a maximum yield of 48 hL/ hA. The second fermentation must be carried out in the bottle for a minimum of 36 months, as compared to the existing 30 month requirement for Grand Reserva. These, Single Estate Cavas may be produced as ‘Brut’.
Many Cava bodegas have been producing ultra-premium single vineyard Cavas for decades. Once the wines are approved, they can be immediately released on the market with this certification. Gramona, Juvé & Camps, Cavas Recaredo and Casa Sala, the historic estate of Freixenet are a few of the labels expected to join the new ranks.
About 250 million bottles of Cava are produced every year, including 30 million of premium Cavas. According to Bonet, only about 450,000 bottles (2%) will qualify for this ultra-premium variant. “The growth and improvement of Cava is essential for global sustainability in the region, essential for its progress and the future, even though, there is still a long way to go. We hope that this new classification will not only prove that Cava is capable of producing fine wines that can age and we hope that this new classification will motivate and inspire producers to strive to produce increasingly higher quality sparkling wines”, he is reported to have said.
Genesis of Cava de Paraje
When Frances Scala, Export Manager of the Sant Sadurni d’Anoia based Cava producer Raventos i Blanc visited Delhi in February, 2013 he told delWine that they had decided to pull out of the DO Cava appellation from the following vintage. Citing the reasons he said, ‘Due to its popularity every producer wants to make Cava. It is disappointing that today Cava can be produced practically in any part of Spain, of any quality.’ Justifying their decision to keep high standards for a product that was initiated by the ancestors of the family which had been also involved in formulating the rules for the appellation, he said that the Media had also supported their decision. They went on to form an uncertified, rival association, Conca Del Riu Anoia.
‘Raventos I Blanc should know. The brand rubs shoulders with the best known quality labels like Augusti Torelló Mata and Gramona, the top Cava producers. It is served in 4 of the 8 top restaurants of the world; including the iconic restaurant El Bulli till it was closed by Ferran Adria in 2011, according to the Restaurant Magazine,’ said our report in delWine.
As reported in delWine last month, ‘It is an open secret that several ultra premium producers of Cava have left the Consortium of Cava producers, or are threatening to leave, since they believe Cava has become a uncontrolled, cheap commodity over the years. One such producer who left the Consejo Regulador del Cava a few years ago was Raventos i Blanc, a historical and iconic producer (being imported by Aspri till last year). Although Jaume (of Gramona) wasn’t comfortable answering my query whether they had threatened to quit too, I did learn through my sources that they had contemplated it but the Consejo had promised to take a positive action within a definite time frame.
There lies the genesis of this change and introduction of the new classification, reminiscent of the Gran Selezione, the top of the quality pyramid, announced by Chianti Classico appellation in 2014 by a government decree in Italy. The objective is the same- to differentiate the top quality wines from the rest of the pack and have an image makeover and recognition for those who give their best to bring out a product of exceptional quality.
Subhash Arora |