An Inexpensive Cava You Should Try
Despana Vinos y Mas has a large selection of Cava. It is balanced between non-vintage and vintage with bottles at all price ranges. As with the rest of my purchased I relied on Veronica’s help. My favorite was the Clos Amador, Brut Delicat at only $11. In my mind this is a tough price point to get truly good and interesting wine. Of wines I have recently tasted I can think of 2011 Kermit Lynch Selections, Cotes du Rhone as an example. Both Jenn and I were immediately attracted to this wine. It has good complexity that is well-integrated with the bubbles which makes it an outright tasty glass of wine. I would buy several bottles. The Bohigas, Rosat is a bit too coarse to drink on its own. If you must drink it now then do so with food or make a sparkling cocktail with it. Otherwise I would try cellaring it for a few years. Honestly, just buy the less expensive Clos Amador. These wines were purchased at Despana Vinos y Mas.
NV Clos Amador, Brut Delicat, Cava – $11
Imported by Monsieur Touton. This wine is a blend of 35% Xarel-lo, 35% Macabeo, and 30% Parellada. It was aged more than 15 months on the lees. Alcohol 11.5%. The color was a light stone straw. The nose was light with aromas of apple, yeast, and with air some sweet spices. In the mouth there were fresh, refreshing flavors which were crisp on the tongue. It took on lemony fruit then dried chalk notes. There were very fine bubbles which gently popped leaving a mousse which expanded with ripe, spiced fruit. Quite nice. *** Now.
NV Bohigas, Rosat, Cava – $17
Imported by Polaner Selections. This wine is a blend of 90% Pinot Noir and 10% Trepat. It was aged 9-12 months on the lees. Alcohol 11.5%. The color is an intense medium copper rose. The light nose was of dried floral and red fruit. In the mouth there were firm bubbles which brought forth citrus and red fruit then dissipated into a creamy mousse. This was followed by moderately ripe, red fruit, and a long, drier finish with some chalky minerals and a hint of earth. It is a bit coarse right now and could stand a few years in the cellar. ** 2014-2017.
When we were doing the blind sparkling tastings for our NYE Grape Crates, the Cavas all fared pretty poorly — note after came up disappointed by notes in the rubbery/resinous/gasoliney, to the point that we didn’t include a cava among the six sparkling wines. Have you run across that at all? I am sure it’s more apparent when you’re tasting against a variety of sparklers, but I figured I’d ask…
I haven’t come across that yet. Can you name a few examples? I typically do not drink that much Cava so was suprised by the quality and price of the Clos Amador. The last one I liked was the 2008 Llopart, Rose Brut, Reserva.
Had to dig up tasting notes… the Gran Gest Cava Reserva, the Chatel Cava and Mont Marcal Brut Reserva all displayed this sort of rubbery character, and as I understand it, that is a typical Cava marker. Still, safe to say it’s more prevalent in low-end cavas and certainly not universal.