Cava is the name of a type of white sparkling wine, produced mainly in the Penedès region in northeastern Spain, 40 km to the south west of Barcelona.
The region of Penedès is surrounded by Montserrat, an area of predominantly rocky terrain, and has been home to vineyards since the Greeks settled here in antiquity. It has an ideal climate for wine-making; the north and eastern winds of the levanter help to cool the region, while the chalky top soil over clay allows the vines to establish deep roots.
The sparkling wine of Cava was created in 1872 by Josep Raventós. The vineyards of Penedès were devastated by the phylloxera plague, and the predominantly red vines were being replaced by large numbers of vines producing white grapes. After seeing the success of the Champagne region, Raventós decided to create the dry sparkling wine that has become the reason for the regions continued success.
The annual production of Cava is around 12 million cases, second only to Champagne in quantity of production for a sparkling wine. The wine is made by the traditional Méthode Champenoise , and uses a selection of the grapes macabeo, parellada , xarello , Chardonnay,(all white) and monstrell , garnacha tinta ,Pinot Noir, (red).
Codorníu and Freixenet are famous producers of this wine.
The three levels of dryness of the wine are: brut (extra dry), seco (dry) and semiseco (medium).
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Cava is also the name of an island in the Orkney Islands, Scotland.