Champagne, a sparkling wine produced in the French region of Champagne using the traditional method—where the secondary fermentation, which creates the bubbles, occurs directly in the bottle—is widely regarded (and not without reason) as the gold standard for sparkling wines. But Champagne has one major drawback: it’s expensive, sometimes very expensive. However, Champagne is not the only wine made using this traditional technology. When it comes to national sparkling wines—those made with their own grape varieties and/or unique technological features that differ from Champagne—Spanish Cava should be placed second only to Champagne in terms of quality. And in recent decades, both the quality and diversity of Cava wines have been growing rapidly. Cava is always made using the traditional method—this is required by law. The wine must mature on the lees for a minimum of 9 months for regular wine. Cava is available in almost every wine-consuming country, and in terms of volume, production is only slightly behind Champagne—250 million bottles per year, compared to Champagne’s 300 million. At the same time, Cava is much more affordable, making it hard for any sparkling wine lover to ignore.
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