The Adventures of Wickse, Eric & Sharon: Cava

I love bubbles! We both love bubbles!! So what could have been more exciting than realising that our journey down to Valencia was going to take us right through the heart of Spain's Cava making district?!!!

So with TomTom set for Sant Sadurni d'Anoia, off we set...

When I think of Cava I think of Freixenet. Now I do know that it's not that exotic, and in the past I've been known to buy it on special at Foodtown Grey Lynn, but I won't have a bad word said about it. I love it! So naturally it was the first place we headed.

Freixenet!!

Unfortunately we missed the last tour of the day by 20 minutes, but fortunately it isn't the only Cava cave in town. So off we set into the unknown...

Cordoniu is, alongside Freixenet, one of the most prominent Cava producers in the business. It owns not only the biggest cellars in the world, but a also the most spectacular Art Nouveau "chateau" - or at least the Spanish equivalent of a chateau, so was definitely worth a visit. And more importantly it was willing to let us join the tour that had already started, so we were guaranteed of a tasting or two.

Josep Puig i Cadafalch's early 1900 Art Nouveau masterpiece, the Codorniu Cava house

Almost like a (cava) house of workship!

To be honest, we've seen the insides of more than a few wine producers over the past few years, but here there was certainly something exciting about watching the bubbles being poured into the bottles, the corks being squeezed on,and their cages being wired on. And the high speed miniature train ride through the aisles and aisles of subterranean cellars - 5 stories underground - surely couldn't help bring out the inner child in me! The expectation was mounting!!

Degorgement of pink cava - they're full of bubbles now!

5 stories under...

Just in case we've forgotten where we are

And so to the tasting...a generous glass of Codorniu Ultra Brut. And the conclusion? Crisp, taut, with good finesse, but a little too on the dry side for my liking.