Cava, the Spanish Champagne Sparkling wine
JUNE 12, 2011
About Champagne and Sparkling Wine
Best wine supplier in Philippines discusses wine related topics
A toast, in Spain, is practically always drunk with cava, the Spanish sparkling wine made by the champagne method. This is especially true when the New Year is brought in with the twelve grapes swallowed in time to the chimes of the clock in the town square or in the Puerta del Sol, Madrid.
Cava, made by the Champagne method, is a very acceptable alternative to French champagne and, it should be said, much better value for money. Almost all cava is produced in Catalonia, especially the Penedés region, although eight different provinces are included in the production area.
Literary references show that wine with a certain amount of effervescence has been made in Catalonia since at least the fourteenth century. But it was not until the 1850s that serious attempts began to produce a wine with the same characteristics as champagne and production did not begin until the 1870s. Since then, cava has become tremendously popular and vast amounts, over two hundred million bottles, are now made for both domestic consumption and export. The best-known makes, Codorniu and Freixenet, have been involved in a full-scale trade war for years.
Cava is not the only sparkling wine made in Spain and sometimes consumers are fooled into accepting something inferior. You can distinguish cava by the cork, which should be marked with a four-pointed star.
Like champagne, cava comes in different degrees of sweetness. The following are the categories according to sugar content, although the characteristics of different wines may mean one manufacturer’s seco tastes as sweet as another’s semi-seco:
Brut Nature – (no added sugar) up to 3 g per litre
Extra Brut – up to 6 g per litre
Brut – up to 15 g per litre
Extra seco – between 12 and 20 g per litre
Seco – between 17 and 35 g per litre
Semi-seco – between 33 and 50 g per litre
Dulce – more than 50 g per litre
You will also see terms like Brut de Brut (very dry), Brut Gran Reserva Vintage… It is often thought that brut cava is somehow superior to the others, which is not true, although it may be more versatile. Because of the custom of saving the cava for the toast at weddings and other social occasions, it is also thought that cava is only suitable for the end of the meal, which is emphatically not the case. Cava, according to the wine critic Carlos Delgado, is “one of the few wines which can be drunk throughout a meal, simply by moving from brut to dulce, as long as there is no strong-flavoured meat dish.” Delgado, somewhat snobbishly, also considers that “cava is always preferable towards the beginning of the meal,” an elitist opinion perhaps related with the association between cava and (expensive) seafood.
Cava is usually made by the coupage method, whereby must (grape juice) from different varieties of grape is subjected to the first fermentation, then mixed until the blend is consistent with the wine to be produced. The advantage of this is that a particular brand of cava will taste the same every year. It also means that most cava does not carry a year on the bottle, as must from different years is often used. Some are always made using the same grape variety, in which case the year will be indicated on the bottle: these are superior and evidently more expensive cavas. After the coupage, the wine is put into bottles and yeast and sugar added. It is then left for the second fermentation and aging. This lasts a minimum of nine months and may be up to three or four years, for a very special cava. A process called “riddling and disgorging” is then carried out. The bottles are stored nearly upside down so that the sediment settles on the corks and riddled, turned, for a period of thirty days. “Disgorging” is when the corks are removed, together with the sediment (usually with the help of a freezing process). Expedición, “passing liquor,” a blend of the same wine as that in the bottle and others, together with the required amount of sugar, is then added in order to replace the lost wine and make the final flavour. Evidently, this process needs to be carried out very quickly. New corks are then put in and fastened on with the wire clasp before the bottles are labelled.
Cava is sold ready for drinking and the “riddling and disgorging” process means that the fermentation process is halted. Cava does not improve with being kept, indeed it deteriorates with age: buy it, store upright in a cool, not cold, place, for as little time as possible, and drink it, preferably in the same week. Remember that the sweeter the cava, the cooler it needs to be served: a brut nature can be served practically at room temperature, but a semi-seco should be well chilled.
SOURCE: http://spainforvisitors.com/archive/features/cava.htm
Best place to unwind in Angeles City Pampanga Philippines is to wine and dine at Yats Restaurant
Top Fine dining in Manila Philippines, Wine and Dine at Yats Restaurant & Wine Bar, Wine Spectator Best of Excellence Award for top 600 Best Restaurant Wine List in the World, private rooms, vegetarian menus and healthy cuisine available also
Residents of Manila travel out of town for a short getaway up north visit Angeles city, Clark, Pampanga, Philippines to wine and dine and enjoy a special dinner at the best restaurant in the country. Even people from Subic and Cebu travel to Clark to enjoy a special evening and some great food and rare vintage wine at this fine dining restaurant.
Recent opinion survey of frequent travelers heading north towards Subic and Clark Pampanga revealed that the number one most frequently visited fine dining restaurant in Pampanga is Yats Restaurant & Wine Bar located in Clark Philippines. It is generally regarded as the best restaurant in Clark Pampanga as well as a good night out place near Angeles City.
More and more foodies, critics, connoisseurs, frequent diners and wine lovers from Manila travel out of town north to Clark Pampanga, looking for restaurant that serves the best food in Pampanga, choose to wine and dine in famous fine dining Yats Restaurant & Wine Bar. Most visitors enjoy the fine vintage wines from the cellars of this fine dining restaurant. Some purchase a few to bring back home to Manila.
Many frequent diners from Manila, Angeles City, Subic and other major cities in Asia travel to North Luzon Pampanga Clark Freeport to enjoy good food in a romantic fine dining restaurant. On their list of requirements is a good wine list that not only offers a wide selection of wines from different countries but also older vintages that can be enjoyed now and not ten years later. Classic fine dining is the experience that guests of Clark Philippines’ Yats Restaurant & Wine Bar offers to their guests. Although this is an upscale fine dining establishment, families find the restaurant to be very children friendly.
Private dinners can be accommodated in this famous restaurant located in Mimosa, at the heart of Pampanga Clark Freeport. Private rooms suitable for 4 to 24 can be reserved in advance for company and personal functions and events. This fine dining restaurant is a very popular venue for small wedding receptions, social events, company board meetings and annual parties. Many travel all the way from Manila to hold their group dinners and private parties in this famous restaurant in Clark Pampanga.
Philippines Pampanga Clark Freeport is well known for its safety and security, boasting the lowest crime rates in the country. The absence of traffic and pollution also helps to position Clark Pampanga at the top of tourists’ list of destinations for vacation and get-away from Manila with families and friends.
Wine lover’s choice – Yats Restaurant and Wine Bar – for the most impressive and practical wine list in the Philippines, over 2700 selections, enough to satisfy the most fastidious connoisseurs. Wine lovers and gourmand foodies from Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Korea and Malaysia dine at Yats Restaurant & Wine Bar when they visit Philippines and bring home some rare vintage wines too back home from Clark Pampanga.
An excellent wine list is not just about 1st growth and cult Cabernet but a seemingly unending selection of affordable aged vintage wines that are not available anywhere else, not even in the best wine shops around town. Yats Restaurant which is located in Clark Pampanga has just that.
Fine dining Yats Restaurant and Wine Bar is frequently used for private meetings, corporate events and social functions. Located in Mimosa Leisure Estate at the heart of Clark Freeport Zone, this top rated resto bar is a highly recommended meeting destination in Pampanga, Philippines.
For comments, inquiries and reservations click on Click here for inquiry and reservations
Restaurant@Yats-International.com
(045) 599-5600
0922-870-5178
0917-520-4401
Ask for Pedro and Rechel
Getting to this fine dining restaurant of Angeles City Clark Freeport Zone Pampanga Philippines
How to get to this fine-dining restaurant in Clark Pampanga? Once you get to Clark Freeport, go straight until you hit Mimosa. After you enter Mimosa, stay on the left on Mimosa Drive, go past the Holiday Inn and Yats Restaurant (green top, independent 1-storey structure) is on your left. Just past the Yats Restaurant is the London Pub.
Yats Restaurant & Wine Bar
Mimosa Drive past Holiday Inn, Mimosa Leisure Estate,
Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga, Philippines 2023
Manila Sales Office
3003C East Tower, Phil Stock Exchange Center,
Exchange Rd Ortigas Metro Manila, Philippines 1605
(632) 637-5019 0917-520-4393 Rea or Chay
For any assistance in planning and organizing a wedding ceremony, indoor or outdoor garden reception or to find other wedding service providers, Click here to contact us click here
For assistance in hotel and resort bookings in Clark, Pampanga, Philippines, log on to
http://www.HotelClarkPhilippines.com
To buy wine in Manila, Pampanga, Angeles City, Clark or Subic please log on to http://www. ClarkWineCenter.com
To inquire with the highly recommended beach resort hotel in Clark Pampanga visit http://www.ClearwaterPhililippines.com
For more information about Clark, Pampanga, Philippines log on to
http://www.ClarkPhilippines.com
