(2022) Rioja's CVNE make this wine in Penedès near Barcelona, the main region of Cava production. It's made of the three classic Cava varieties. It has a really inviting nose, creamy with custardy brioche, and a ripe, golden delicious apple fruitiness. In the mouth keen, crisp acidity slices through toasty and nutty richness, in a very stylish, easy-drinking and moreish sparkling wine. The price of £9.99 if buying a mixed six bottles (or one in Scotland) is very attractive.
(2022) I very much enjoyed this organic Cava, made from the tradtional varieties Macabeo, Xarel.lo and Parellada. It opens with a really custardy, creamy nose, the mousse full and cushiony, before beautifully ripe fruit sweeps across the palate. There is a sense of sweetness here, though the wine is Brut, but the acid does its job very nicely, freshening and sharpening the finish in a classy and delicious wine.
(2022) A big name in Cava production, but such a nicely made inexpensive fizz. Like Champagne, it is made by the traditional method with second fermentation in individual bottles, from the three classic Cava varieties: Macabeo, Xarel.lo and Parellada. Fine small bubbles and creamy apple pie aromas, little herb and citrus notes. Fresh, zippy and yet with plenty of ripe pear fruit, it is mouth-filling in texture and finishes with good balance and a bit of length too. At £8.00 a nice - and different - alternative to Prosecco. Watch the video for more information.
(2021) This organic certified Cava from the 2017 vintage is made from the three traditional Cava grapes, all grown on estate vineyards. It has a touch of gold to the colour and there's a note of custard on the nose. Fruity, with a little fig note, then the palate is boldly flavoured: a blast of citrus slices through quite ripe, sweet fruit, a wine balancing sweetness with a tangy sourness of orange and grapefruit, this is personality-packed stuff.
(2021) A classic, traditional method blend of Macabeu, Xarel·lo and Parellada, spending 40 months on the lees before disgorgement. Buyer Pierre Mansour says he's on a 'bit of a mission' to support Cava, given the market share and prominence it has lost, especially with the boom of Prosecco, and my goodness this is proof that he has a point: Brut Nature, so dry and without dosage, it has the honeyed, buttery and waxy note I often get from quality Cava made from the traditional varieties, a full, generous mousse, and a mouth-filling breadth of creamy and lightly biscuity character with excellent yellow plum and citrus fruit and acidity to finish. Very fine, very delicious.
(2020) A touch of Chardonnay is blended with the typical grapes of Cava in this wine (Macabeo, Xarel.lo and Parellada), part of Lidl's 'Wine Tour', May 2020. Made by the traditional method, the nose is very inviting with its custardy, creamy and waxy sense of richness, a little biscuit character too. In the mouth the mousse is generous and pillowing, with a crisp lemony fruit, that citrussy freshness clean into the relatively long finish. Really very good value.
(2018) I visited the delightful Juve family in Spain in 2017 and was really impressed by the whole range of wines, including the previous vintage of this bone-dry 'zero dosage' cava made from the three traditional cava varieties and aged 36 months. All of the Juve y Camps vineyards had been certified organic in 2015, but they'd refrained from mentioning that on the labels until the long ageing for this, their flagship product, had been completed and it could be the first of their range to bear the stamp of certification. It remains a delightful, very refined cava, packed with citrus peel and red apple aromas and just hints of a biscuity richness from that long lees ageing. The palate has a twist of bitter lemon too, in a very grown-up and savoury style, filling the mouth with its elegant mousse, but with a cystal-clear finish.
(2018) Roger Goulart is now part of CVNE, as the Rioja producer purchased them earlier this year. Given a full five years on the lees, this is a blend of the traditional cava grapes Xarel.lo, Macabeo and Parellada, and made very dry with only 4g/l of residual sugar. It pours a pale straw yellow with small bubbles, that dissipate quite quickly. The nose has a nice biscuity quality and a little fragrant herb touch, the palate has lemon and yellow plum flavours, and lemony acids. Somehow this wine just didn't catch my attention, lacking a little nerve and precision perhaps, but clearly a quality cava house to watch.
(2018) Made from the three traditional Cava grapes, with around 8g/l sugar dosage. This spends 24 months ageing on the lees, and is Juve y Camps' entry level wine. It has a lovely, deep citrus nose, with a certain weight and pulpy, stone fruit fleshiness, then a clear and precise palate that is crisp though retains that fruitiness and light silkiness of texture. Very fine.
(2018) Made from 100% Xarel.lo and aged 24 months on lees. Waxy, almost Riesling-like character, fennel and sesame seeds, very Cava. Beautifully made, lots of flavour and tangy freshness. No UK stockist listed at time of review; stockist quoted ships from Spain.
