page_title: Spanish wine
section_title: Cava
hierarchical_section_title: Spanish wine / Winemaking / Cava
caption_attribution_description: Spanish sparkling rose wine made in the semi-Seco style
context_page_description: Spanish wine includes red, white, and sparkling wines produced throughout the country. Located on the Iberian Peninsula, Spain has over 1.2 million hectares planted in wine grapes, making it the most widely planted wine-producing nation but the second largest producer of wine in the world, behind Italy and ahead of France, and the United States. This is due, in part, to the very low yields and wide spacing of the old vines planted on the dry, infertile soil found in some of the Spanish wine regions. The country is ninth in worldwide consumption with Spaniards drinking, on average, 21.6 litres per person a year. The country has an abundance of native grape varieties, with over 400 varieties planted throughout Spain though 88 percent of the country's wine production is from only 20 grapes — including the reds Tempranillo, Bobal, Garnacha, and Monastrell; the whites Albariño, Airén, Verdejo, Palomino, and Macabeo; and the three Cava grapes Parellada, Xarel·lo, and Macabeo.
context_section_description: Cava is a Spanish sparkling wine made in the traditional method of the French sparkling wine Champagne. The definition of Cava is Vino Espumoso de Calidad Producido en una Región Determinada (VECPRD). It originated in the Catalonia region at the Codorníu Winery in the late 19th century. The wine was originally known as Champan until Spanish producers officially adopted the term "Cava" (cellar) in 1970 in reference to the underground cellars in which the wines ferment and age in the bottle. The early Cava industry was nurtured by the phylloxera epidemic of the late 19th century, which caused the destruction and uprooting of vineyards planted with red grape varieties. Inspired by the success of Champagne, vineyard owners started to replant with white grape varieties like Macabeo, Parellada, and Xarel·lo to use for sparkling wine production. These grapes are still the primary grapes of Cava today though some producers are experimenting with the use of the typical Champagne  grapes of Chardonnay and Pinot noir.
  For most of its existence, the production of Cava was not regulated to a particular region of DOP but rather to the grapes and method of production. Upon Spain's acceptance into the European Union in 1986, efforts were undertaken to designate specific areas for Cava production. Today use of the term "Cava" is restricted to production around select municipalities in Catalonia, Aragon, Castile and León, Valencia, Extremadura, Navarre, Basque Country, and Rioja. Around 95% of Spain's total Cava production is from Catalonia, with the village of Sant Sadurní d'Anoia being home to many of Spain's largest production houses.
caption: A semi-seco (semi-dry) rosado Cava.
exif: {"Image Make": "Apple", "Image Model": "iPhone 4", "Image Orientation": "Rotated 90 CW", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "6.1.3", "Image DateTime": "2013:12:31 14:01:13", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "192", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "676", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "8231", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/15", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "125", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2013:12:31 14:01:13", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2013:12:31 14:01:13", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "4889/1250", "EXIF ApertureValue": "4281/1441", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "3413/1710", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "77/20", "EXIF SubjectArea": "[1295, 967, 699, 696]", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2592", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1936", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "35", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}