WINE INFORMATION

The most complex way to make sparkling wine is known as the traditional method or the Champagne method (named for the region of France that pioneered its use.)  Grapes are harvested slightly underripe, then fermented and blended into the base wine. This wine is bottled, yeast is added, and the bottles capped like beer.  A second fermentation occurs in the bottles, which have to be heavy enough to withstand the 5-7 atmospheres of pressure that builds up. As this fermentation proceeds, the bottles are inverted, and the yeast settles into the neck.  The necks are frozen, the crown caps removed, and the plug of spent yeast shoots out.  The air space has to be refilled, and the flavor adjusted, so a dosage of sweetened wine is added, and the bottle is corked and muzzled.  Key to this process is the base wine, often a secret blend. 

This is an old estate, founded in 1796 by grower Juan Juvé Mir, a man far ahead of his time in terms of his vineyard work and meticulousness. His son Antoni Juvé Escaiola took over and successfully nursed the operation through the attack of phylloxera, replanting many of the vineyards. Antoni’s son Juan Juvé Baqués took over and built a new winery. He married the ambitious Teresa Camps Farré, who believed the future lay in the production of sparkling wine. In 1921, they launched their first vintage, made in the cellars under the family home in northern Penedés. Today there are six levels of subterranean tunnels housing the wines as they age. The Rosado was introduced in 2000. It is an unusual bottling, since Pinot Noir is not exactly a household name in Spanish viticulture.

Grapes for this wine come from a single estate vineyard, l’Oliverar, planted on clay and limestone soils in 1993. It lies at 825-1650 feet above sea level with NE/SE orientation. Grapes are harvested manually in late August at low yields. Only free-run juice is used to make the base wine. Grapes go through a cold soak before a 7-10-day cool fermentation in tank. The wine ages in bottle for a year before disgorgement.

TASTING NOTES

This is deeply colored, a bright cherry red. It combines classic Pinot Noir aromas and flavors with the brioche notes typical of cava. Full bodied and toasty, it offers cherry, truffle, and strawberry with delightful and persistent effervescence.

FOOD PAIRING

This would pair well with charcuterie (especially jamón Iberico), salmon pâté, or strawberry sorbet. It is also delightful on its own.

Brunch Foods, Cheese, Chicken/Turkey, Duck, East Asian (Chinese/Japanese/Korean), Fish (white), Fish-full flavored (salmon/tuna), Grilled preparations, Ham, Hors d'oeuvres, Just for Cocktailing, Perfect Aperitif , Shellfish, Slow-smoked Barbeque/BBQ Sauce, Sushi, Tapas