When studying for my WSET Diploma D4 exam in sparkling wines, I had to buy a number of bottles well beyond my normal drinking habits.
While I do enjoy a good Cava, I often find myself trending to artisan producers over some of the larger companies. But for studying purposes, I knew I had to go for some name-brand bottles to increase my tasting experience, which is exactly how I ended up with a bottle of Freixenet Cordon Negro Gran Seleccion.
Normally when we think of the grape Macabeo, it is in the context of Cava. Even there, this grape is often used for blending purposes and can be a small percentage of the overall makeup of any given glass of sparkling.
Since our quest here is to try every grape variety in the world as close to we can get as pure, single varietal expressions, you know we had to pick up a bottle of Frontonio “Microcosmico” Macabeo when we saw it.
This single varietal grape stands on its own with this rather delicious bottle (with bonus points for being six years old, too)!
One of our local wine distributors always hails the glory of Pares Balta Cava, and after enjoying their Cava Blanca Cusine 2011 we didn't need that big of a push to open a bottle of their lower-tier non-vintage Brut Cava to compare.
The differences were striking.
If you want an easy-drinking cava with some fairly straight forward flavors, the non-vintage cava is for you. But if you want something complex and thought-provoking, the Blanca Cusine should be what you go for (even when accounting for the price increase).
But in this one, we want to discuss the non-vintage Cava from Pares Balta, and if you opt for it we do have to admit you're still going to have a delicious glass all the same.
