Red Fox Wines L'Atzar Brut Reserva Cava - Premium, Spanish Sparkling Cava Wine With Fruity and Citrus Notes - Made From Macabeo, Parellada and Xarel-lo Grapes - 75cl Single Bottle, 11.5% ABV

Product Information

You could finish dinner with a chunk of Parmesan cheese and keep on with the Valpol which will go really well with that too. Domaine des Valanges Saint-Véran 2020 This L’Atzar Cava offers a lot of heart for the value, it is generous, fruity and dry. Particularly compared to the Italian Prosecco which keeps its fruity appeal by being made in large steel tanks from start to finish. However, Cava is one of the traditionally made bubbles of the world. This means it is made using the same method as Champagne. After the initial ferment in a stainless steel tank, the dry wine is then bottled for the second ferment. This captures the bubbles in that bottle, giving you a more complex wine with finer bubbles. This is partly a mood thing. It’s also about the fact that what you’re eating has the power to change the perception of the wine you are drinking. For instance, salty food makes a wine taste less refreshing, a big steak seems to soften the tannins in a red wine, and so on. Pinot noir is so often a possible answer to the “what shall I drink with this?” question. It is very good with the earthy flavour of mushrooms – think garlic mushrooms on toast; mushroom risotto; monkfish with ceps and artichokes; macaroni cheese layered with mushrooms.

In the same way it can work with other salty, fatty foods such as cured hams, fried chorizo or salty, hard cheeses like aged pecorino. Cava also works well with asparagus risotto and with Spanish rice with artichokes and tomatoes. Richard Bampfield, Master of Wine at Lidl said: Richard Bampfield, Master of Wine at Lidl said: “Dry, with bright, citrus aromas and attractive creaminess on the palate, the Cava Brut really is a high quality fizz at this special price point. A refreshing, tasty reminder that Cava often outperforms its big rival, Prosecco.” Matching every course with a wine can feel fussy, detracting from the fun rather than adding to it. I make an exception if lunch or dinner is simply a main then a pudding, when a dessert plus a good wine turns it into an event. A few good combinations: strawberries and moscato d’Asti; orange salad and cream sherry; tarte Tatin and sweet riesling or Coteaux du Layon (sweet wine made in the Loire from chenin blanc). Basil Cava is one of the most underrated sparkling wines, and is a great alternative to prosecco. It’s known for its admirable freshness and being incredibly drinkable, making it the perfect accompaniment for a range of occasions. Basil has a slightly anise-like smell and contains the aroma compound linalool, which is also found in lemon peel. If you’re eating basil in pesto or putting a lot of it in a tomato salad then try wines made from the cortese grape (used to make Gavi) which tastes a bit like lemon pith and bay and seems to go very well. Spicy foodThe L’Atzar Reserva has had 15 months in that second ferment phase, resting on dead yeast to give a bready character to the soft mineral talc, floral and pear and lemon fruit. It is dry and those flavours last around for a long moment making this cava a versatile choice. Me … it makes me think of sitting on a beach with an impromptu picnic and watching the world go by. However, I am sure that you can come up with your own ideas.

Of course, you can cook anything on a barbecue but this is predominantly the territory of meats, spicy rubs and relishes, and a certain smoky, charry taste that can destroy a delicate old wine. Barbecues also tend to be eaten outside with a riot of different side dishes and a lot of chatter, so any wine you open had better be able to compete with that. Of course it’s also a great wine to drink with tapas; there’s an affinity with almost every dish from pan y tomate to fried prawns with garlic. Quinta do Noval 10 Year Old Tawny NVThe ultimate white for crab, octopus (dressed with olive oil and dusted with paprika) and prawns is albariño from Rías Baixas on Spain’s Atlantic coast. The peachy flavour of the wine brings out the sweet succulence of the shellfish and its subtle salinity plays into the seaside feel. Not forgetting mountain. Dominating the cava towns is Montserrat, a craggy outcrop of pink conglomerate. It’s worth planning a visit to the Benedictine monastery, Santa Maria de Montserrat, to coincide with a performance by the famed Escolania boys’ choir, usually at 1pm in the basilica. Organic producer Llopart offers lovely mountain views. Grillo is a Sicilian grape, a natural crossing of cataratto and zibbibo. This one is glossily viscous and tastes of yellow peaches with a faint tropicality (like mango) and floral notes. I love it with pasta con sarde, the pasta dish that is ubiquitous on Sicily. Somehow, it just goes with the wonderful Arabic-European blend of fragrance and fruitiness of the olive oil, pine nuts, raisins, sardines and fennel fronds.

Mind you, these bubbles make me think of sitting on a beach with an impromptu picnic and watching the world go by. However, I am sure that you can come up with your own ideas. Of course, there’s no such place as cava. It’s the only Spanish denomination not to have its own geographical home. Cava is produced in as many as 159 towns and villages across the country, including in Valencia, La Rioja and Extremadura, as well as Catalonia. However, the vast majority of cava is made in Catalonia. So when talking about holidaying in cava country, that does mean Catalonia, and specifically the region of Penedès.Rioja is really good with both pork and lamb. For the pork, think pulled pork or meltingly soft, slow-cooked pork shoulder (you could serve this with a date and almond couscous); lamb could be a classic roast leg of lamb studded with rosemary and garlic or a slow-cooked joint. This Cava offers a lot of heart for the value. Whereas prosecco is known to keep it fruity appeal because it is made in large steel tanks, Cava is a traditionally made fizz. It is made using the same method as Champagne: after the initial ferment in a stainless steel tank, the dry wine is then bottled for the second ferment which captures the bubbles in that bottle, giving you a more complex wine with finer bubbles. The palate is refreshing, the sparkle balancing the green and citrus fruits. It is light but long and elegant. And just as, in food, there are happy marriages such as strawberries and cream or Yorkshire Puddings and beef gravy so, too, there are combinations of food and wine that go particularly well together.