Cava
Cava is a Spanish sparkling wine made by the Champagne method. The Penedès wine region in Catalonia is known for the best cavas. The secondary fermentation (which creates the bubbles) takes place in the individual bottle. Cava is made from one or more of the following grape varieties: parellada, xarel-lo, macabeo, chardonnay, and subirat. Cavas tend to have an earthy, mushroomy flavor.
Aria Segura Viudas 12% alcohol. $14 or so. Aged at least 9 months with stricter rules on how it can be aged than Prosecco. Sharper than Prosecco. I like this wine a lot. It is bright and yeasty. It tasted a lot like champagne, and was a little sharp. It didn't do too well with cheeses, though.
Aria Segura Viudas and St. André. OK, but not so interesting. A little bitter.
Aria Segura Viudas and Gorgonzola Dolce. Not really so good. Kind of marshy tasting.
Avinyó Brut
1.45% alcohol. From Ambiente. I love this wine, especially for the label.
On the front is written in Catalan dialect "Del most flor, amb la dedicació i el
rigor de l'obra artesanal ben feta" which means "From the initial pressing
(must) of the grapes with the rigor of a work well crafted." Mild, fruity smell,
like ripe apples, lemon, and yeast. Tart and entertaining, yet subtle. I keep
drinking it trying to figure it out. I killed half a bottle all too quickly,
especially with the cheeses.
Avinyó with Emmenthaler. It's
ok together, but the wine overpowers the cheese. I taste a vague bitter flavor
with the cheese, but mostly it's just texture. I thought the nuts and
carbonation would be good together, and both are mild, but the wine was
overpowering.
*Avinyó with Idiazabal. Lightly smoked sheep's milk cheese. Tangy, lightly smoky cheese with a tart wine. Very good! The cheese is so nutty and sweet. The smokiness in the cheese stands up to the acidity in the wine. It's excellent together. I love the woody aftertaste from the cheese. I can't decide what is better, the cheese or the wine, so I keep having to taste both. The cheese brings out fruit in the wine, but it also tastes very substantial. Very bright flavors together. They don't seem like they would go together, one being light and dry, and the other rustic, sweet, and woody, but they are wonderful with each other.
Avinyó with Serra Estrella. Stinky, raw sheep's milk cheese, tangy, and pungent. Horrible. Bitter and disgusting. I can't even describe how bad this pairing is. The aftertaste is that of rotten cabbage. Never ever ever try these two together.
Cava Montsarra Supposed to go well with soft-ripened, younger cheeses.
Cava Montsarra and Mt. Tam Point Reyes Cowgirl Triple Crème brie. This is ok. They don’t fight at all, but when I drink the cava, I feel like I loose the creaminess of the brie. It is very crisp. Nothing wrong with this, but not so interesting.
Cava Montsarra and Gorgonzola dolce. Not so bad together. The cheese is nutty and very creamy. The wine is crisp. I like the joining at the beginning, but the aftertaste is a little weird – kind of vomity, which I didn’t expect. I would do this pairing again, though because it is intriguing.
*Cava Montsarra and crottin de champcol (Jacquin). Yum! This is like a young crottin de chavignol, but with a different name, from a different town. It is semi-hard. It goes very well with the cava. The light acidity and creaminess of the goat cheese are countered and enhanced by the tart, fizzy, fruity flavors in the cava. The cheese really brings out the fruit in the wine. When you eat this, the finish flip flops back and forth between the milk and the fruit. The goat cheese has such a strange mouthfeel – a little pasty. I really like the interesting texture of the thick crumbliness of the cheese with the fizz of the wine.
Cava Montsarra and Serra. This is good together, but causes a little bitterness in the finish. It is very good together, but when I drink the cava, all it really does is clean my palate after the cheese. It wipes out the spicy, fruity flavor of the cheese. I guess the wine overpowers the cheese, even though the cheese is much stronger than the wine. The wine is maybe too acidic for this cheese.
Cava Montsarra and Black Diamond 18 month cheddar. Excellent! The cheddar is easy on the mouth with some definite grassy tones and good cream flavor. The acidic, bright cava brings out the sharpness in the cheese and the wine. You don’t lose the cheese while the wine is doing its tricks. This is really good. The wine lengthens the finish of the cheese and makes it taste stronger and fuller than it does alone.
Marques
de Monistrol Reserva, Rose Brut $6.99 at Austin Wine Merchant. 12%
alcohol. As usual, I was looking for something cheap to keep in my fridge and
they pointed me to this. One of the employees at the store, Saans, said that she
drinks a bottle of this every weekend. Judging from the reviews online, this is
supposed to be really tasty. The winery is noted for having an ancient past with
vast architectural and agricultural history.