1- Base wine
2- Fermentation in bottle
3- Fermentation in rima
4- Clarification in pupitre
5- Disgorging and reserve wine
6- Market
MAKING CAVA
Sparkling wines, known in Spain as Cavas, are wines that contain carbon gas of endogenous origin - that is, created in the wine due to second fermentation. This is caused by the addition of sucrose and special yeasts that convert the sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide.
Sparkling wines are divided into two groups. On the one hand, there is the champagne or traditional method (in which fermentation occurs in the bottle), and, on the other, there is the transfer system or large vat system, in which the second fermentation occurs in large stainless steel tanks. The latter is the method used to make Italian anti spumantes and the greater part of German sparkling wines. The traditional method is used in the French region of Champagne, and in Spain to make Cavas.
Cava is, therefore, a sparkling wine made in Spain following the same techniques as those used in Champagne, but with the unique characteristics and personality conferred by the particular soil, climate and varieties of grape used in its making.
a) Selection of base wine
In the case of Cava, the key to success is due largely to the selection of the base wine. The best for Cava making is pale in colour, has a clean aroma, a fruity, acidic, light palate, and an alcohol content no higher than 11º. It should be low in sulphur dioxide. Both young wines and wines having undergone a certain ageing period in wood may be used.
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