If you're in any way interested in serious sparkling win, now is a very good time to look at Spain.
This is a sensational Cava from one of Spain's finest Cava producers.
Aged in bottle for 24 months (generic Cava only needs to be aged for 9 months), this wine has a rich golden hue, with an intense nose of white fruits and flower petals. The palate is lively and structured, with fresh fruit balanced by a creamy texture. Its bubbles are vibrant yet fine, with really well-integrated acidity. A perfect wine to be served as an aperitif or with a really wide range of food, it is superb value for money in any Sparkling category, but especially in comparison to Champagne.
This particular wine from Juve & Camps is a reserve-level wine made with the indigenous varieties of Macabeu, Xarel-lo and Parellada grapes, that come from 3- year-old vines in Penedès, the heart of Cava country.
The winery’s philosophy has been to use only traditional, high-quality winemaking practices. Its Cava is made in the método tradicional, as is Champagne, meaning it undergoes a secondary, in-bottle fermentation prompted by the addition of yeast and sugar before the 2-year ageing in bottle.
Juvé & Camps is a family-owned winery located in San Sadurní d’Anoia, a small town in the northeastern Penedès region near Barcelona. The winery's history goes all the way back to 1796 when the company was founded by wine-grower Joan Juvé Mir. In 1921, his grandson, Antoni Juvé Escaiola, together with his wife set up the underground installations at the winery in Sant Sadurní d’Anoia to begin production of the first sparkling wine under the label Juvé. In 1940, Josep and Joan Juvé Camps, the sons of Joan and Teresa, joined the management of the family business and went on to extend the winery and underground cellars in 1960, as well as introducing modern techniques such as temperature control and pneumatic presses. Three-generations later, Juvé & Camps now enjoys a much deserved international reputation for producing top-quality Cava.
The first bottle of Gran Juvé & Camps was released in 1972, an extraordinary Gran Reserva Brut Nature produced using grapes from the wonderful Espiells vineyard. The family decided to make a firm commitment to the international market in 1982 and their cavas are now sold around the world.
The reconversion to organic agricultural methods started in 2010 and was completed five years later, in 2015. At present Juvé & Camps cultivate 271 hectares, including 200 hectares of old vines in their largest estate, Espiells, protected from cold north winds by the Montserrat mountains. A spectacular estate where Macabeo and Xarel·lo thrive alongside Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Their most recent acquisitions are the Mediona, vineyards, located at heights between 500 and 750 metres above sea level, ideal to ensure the local variety Parellada produces wonderfully delicate and balanced grapes. La Cuscona, is a small yet vigorous 17-hectare vineyard on level ground to the south of Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, growing richly aromatic Macabeo grapes, essential for the production of top quality cava.
The winery buildings in Espiells offer an impressive architectural style sitting among vines, similar to traditional Bordeaux châteaus, while the cava cellars in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia are found in underground cellars the family dug out in 1921. Nowadays they have become six levels of underground tunnels whose constant temperatures mean the bottles slowly mature in racks where they are turned manually.
Ever since the winery was founded, grapes have been collected by hand, a family tradition carried out by generations of grape pickers, linked to the firm for years and very much considered to be part of the family.
