Confessions of a Wino

Now, we already know that the Spanish football team is ever the under-achiever.  Possibly only England can compare to their dismal lack of success when matched against national expectation.  But what are they like at making wine?  In a wine competition, I suspect the English would contrive to grasp defeat from the jaws of victory.  However, I think Spanish wine is pretty good on average, and maybe they finally have a sport to excel at.

Firstly let me clear up the fact that I am about to review a wine that claims it is from Spain but many would say it is made in Catalunia.  Without getting into Iberian politics perhaps I’ll move on to this rather nice Cava (pronounced more like cava in cavalier than “carver” as most people seem to say).  But that’s not the only pronunciation problem here since the Cava is named Freixenet and as best as I can establish that is pronounced like Fresher-net.

Still, I didn’t expect the Spanish Inquisition when I asked for the wine at my local Co-op supermarket.

Unlike champagne, Cava is cheap.  But in my experience a good Cava is far far superior to average champagne.

At 11.5% Freixenet Cava is not heavy at all.  It has a biscuity taste (like champagne) but with a bit more fresh zing.   Imagine a digestive biscuit with a slice of granny smith apple and some soft cheese.  Not quite as bubbly as champagne but in many ways all the better for that.

It is available at many off-licences, wine shops and supermarkets at about £7 to £10 a bottle.  To me this is so much better value than a £20 bottle of shampers.

Like the Spanish Cavaliers, this wine is very Moorish - I apologise for the fact that my jokes are of the same quality as Steve McClaren’s coaching skills.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 30th, 2007 at 9:01 pm and is filed under football, Spain and Portugal, Sparkling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.