WBW#35-Sumarocca, Cava Brut Reserva 2005
My maiden trip for Wine Blogging Wednesday and the subject is Passionate Spain. Well this is going to be my first post for this project, so, I thought by myself, let’s kick of with the first type of wine when having a dinner. Yes, the aperitif, the mouth cleanser and the hungry-maker.
If you want to go for an aperitif, stick to these three ones, in my opinion no others allowed:
- Sparkling wine
- Beer (yes, I’m a Belgian and it is great to be a Belgian)
- Sherry, that is the dry one (manzanillo, fino)
Why that is…that’s food for another post, just take this one -for now- for granted.
So, being in Spain and writing about wine that leaves me two options. And I took the first option, a refreshing bubbly cava. The D.O. (”Denominación de Origin”) Cava is mainly located in Catalunia (for about 95% of the production), the northeast of Spain. I guess you all heard about Barcelona, well, that’s the capital of Catalunia.
Cava is without any doubt the Spanish answer to Champagne. Main difference is the varieties used. The most used grapes are macabeo, xarel.lo and parellada. These three white grapes, each chosen for its particularities, make up the majority of Cava. Macabeo, also known as viura, is late budding and therefore unlikely to being under the attack of spring frosts. This is what they call an “insurance grape”. Even with spring frosts, which can happen often in this region, the wine producer will still have grapes to make his favourite bubbles. To provide backbone and give some alcoholic power as well as flavour xarel.lo is your man. On the other hand, elegance, delicacy and a refreshing acidity are all qualities which can be found in parellada.
Next to this native grapes, a bunch of other grapes may be blended in. Of course there is also chardonnay in white. As red grapes, the following may appear on the Cava stage: garnacha tinta and monastrell (only for Cava Rosé), malvasia riojana, the obscure trepat and, oh yes, pinot noir is recently also permitted (do I smell here some Champagne influences…).
In the bubbles at my side, Sumarroca Brut Reserva, also the three main white grapes confirmed presence completed with just a whiff of chardonnay. The blend is composed as follows: parellada 42% - xarel.lo 24 % - macabeo 27 % - chardonnay 7%.
Just as in Champagne, a second fermentation takes place in the bottle. This fermentation is the one that produces bubbles in sparkling wines. And in the Sumarocca those bubbles are quite delicate, I could just loose hours watching the chain of bubbles play in the glass.
Wandering up to my nose are some great yeasty scents, just think about the perfume when entering a bakery where the fresh made pastry is lying still warm on the shelfs. These are followed by some lemon and white peach impressions. After waltzing a bit (but hold your horses here, just a bit so not to loose those refreshing bubbles) with the glass, also some almonds, you know the roasted ones covered with some salt, aromas are jumping out of the glass.
In the mouth you get instantly that razor-sharp acidity, just imagine a needle with adrenaline directly in your heart. That’s how you feel after a sip of these bubbles, ready, ready for anything, but surely ready for another sip and that lavish dinner.
The mousse has a creamy texture and is the perfect counterbalance for the acidity. I guess you know it by now, I love this type of drink. In addition, Cava in general is giving great quality for the buck.
Wine: Sumarroca Brut Reserva, Cava, 2005
Website: www.sumarroca.es
Shop: Puerta del Sol (Belgium - Deurne)
Price: 8.69 EUR (11.77 USD)
Have a nice Cava today!
bart
Quotes on wine
“Burgundy makes you think of silly things, Bordeaux makes you talk of them and Champagne makes you do them.“
— Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
If you enjoyed this post, make my day and buy me a glass of wine.
One thing I learned in Champagne today
I went for a quick trip to Champagne today. Funtastic weather, temperatures at about 25 degrees Celsius. During the smooth car trip the sun was playing hide and seek with some clouds and shadows were chasing on the highway. Ideal conditions to mentally prepare for these delicious bubbles.
First stop: Vincent Renoir, a small producer in Verzy. This village is located in the Montagne de Reims region. This means that the great red grape pinot noir is omnipresent. Their champagnes are indeed well loaded with this grape. Take their basic brut tradition (tirage 2003) and you will find half of it filled with pinot noir grapes. The other half is occupied by that other great
What is the anecdote beefing up this word? Just before Christmas the order books of
However, one problem during this period is the cold. It could happen that upon transport to the eager clients, the bottles remained some time in the cold. This cold had the effect that certain elements in the wine crystallize. They actually form some kind of “snow flakes”. Hence the reference to those typical snow flakes we all have in mind when dreaming about a white Christmas.
Nowadays this “problem” with
And now it is time to pop some
Santé!
Have a nice glass of Champagne today!
Bart
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