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I want you to forget everything you think you know about Cava.

I’m going to let you in on an industry secret, while many shoppers breeze straight past the Cava and opt for Prosecco, the former is actually the go-to for so many wine experts.

It’s even sometimes known as ‘the wine industry’s best kept sparkling secret’.

That’s because Cava is actually the world’s most difficult-to-produce sparkling wine and it also delivers the best value for money of any fizz.

The drink is currently going through a bit of a rebrand to highlight just how great it really is. Here’s everything you need to know about it…

Where and how is Cava made?

Around 95% of Cava production is concentrated around the Comtats de Barcelona, in the northeastern Penedès region of Catalonia in Spain. The municipality is called Sant Sadurní d’Anoia (san-sad-ur-ni-dannoy-a), aka ‘The Capital of Cava’, where they’ve been producing wine since 1872.

It can also legally be made in other regions around Spain, including Rioja and Valencia.

It’s not the same as Prosecco, which is made in is from northern Italy, in a tank and then sold immediately, hence it goes flat quickly.

Cava is made in the same way as Champagne, where they make a base wine by fermenting and blending three indigenous grapes from the region, each with unique flavours; Parellada (citrus and white flowers), Xare-lo (pear and melon) and Macabeo (lemon and almonds).

The base wine is bottled, with the addition of sugar and yeast, to kick start a second fermentation. This creates CO2 as a bi-product, introduced into the wine in the form of bubbles. The wine is then left to mature on the dead yeast (for added flavour and texture) for a minimum of nine months, a sugar solution is added (or not) before sealing it with a cork and a wire cage (the muselet).

Why does Cava deserve more respect?

Because, in response to Cava being seen as a cheap and cheerful party fuel, D.O. Cava regulatory board (D.O. means designation of origin) have massively tightened up their rules on producing it. All stages of the winemaking process are hyper-carefully monitored, from production through to labelling.

And now, in a move unprecedented by other wine producing areas, top-end Cavas have achieved an 100% organic status, where no pesticide, herbicide or fungicides are used, making it an altogether cleaner and more sustainable wine style.

These elite bottles are called Cava de Paraje Calificado, and are the pinnacle of Spanish sparkling winemaking.

They are single-vineyard (only produced from grapes grown in one vineyard), sourced only from exceptional vineyards and aged for a minimum of 36 months. They have all the patience, pedigree and craftsmanship you would expect from a prestige champagne, not to mention the complexity, all for half the price.

A notch down, and you have Cavas de Guarda Superior, which includes Reserva (minimum of 18 months ageing) and Gran Reserve (minimum of 30 months ageing). This quality level was introduced in 2022, and grapes must be hand-harvested and only vineyards established a minimum of 10 years ago can produce them.

So, it’s easy to see that Cava has the most demanding regulations for any sparkling wine on Earth. Which just goes to show, Cava isn’t trying to be Champagne, it’s not trying to be Prosecco, it’s trying to be the best version of Cava.

With that in mind, here are some bottles you should try, including bargains, sustainable sips and rich fizz:

Baron Amarillo Cava Brut, £5.75, Aldi

Even at the basic end of the spectrum, Cava is exceptional value for money. A lovely, lean and dry fizz with enticing notes of lemon thyme and fennel seed. Aldi’s is the perfect gateway Cava if you’re not familiar with the style.

Vilarnau Organic Brut Reserva, £9.80 (save £3), Ocado

I can’t not mention the eye-catching, Miró-inspired bottle, representing vibey Barcelona. This organic Cava (they’ve been fully organic since 2015) is produced by Vilarnau, one of the Wineries for Climate Protection. Heck, even the winemaker rides around her vineyards on a pushbike. The wine itself is bright, clean and dry with lemon sherbet notes and a well-seasoned, oyster shell salinity.

Vilarnau Rosé Delicat Reserva, £10 (save £3), Ocado

This glowy, rosé Cava is made by a particular method, called saignée, literally meaning ‘bleeding’. This involves draining, or bleeding off, the juice from a tank of pressed red grapes, ready to ferment into a rosé. The result is a far more intensely-flavoured wine, in this case, with cherries, wild strawberries and raspberries with a balancing almond skin finish.

Mas Macià Brut Nature Reserva, £14.99, Drinkwell.com

Dosage is the sugar solution that’s added to sparkling wine before the cork is pushed into the bottle. This decides whether the wine will be dry or sweet, with most of us favouring a Brut style (6 – 12g of sugar per litre). This sparkling has no dosage added, making it deliciously bone dry, super lean with flavours of pear, fennel, herb salt and a green apple finish.

Ars Collecta Codorniu Blanc de Blancs Reserva 2021, £16 (save £2), Ocado

Codorniu is the oldest Cava house in existence, and also one of the most famous. This sits a few notches above their widely-available bottles; a fully-organic, Reserva-level Cava with the addition of Chardonnay. The latter grape gives the wine a noticeable creaminess, with rich and complex flavours of russet golden apples and pears, fennel, sea mist and lemon salt.

Pere Ventura Tresor Gran Reserva 2021, £21, The Great Wine Co

One of my favourites, this is a Gran Reserva Cava with a minimum ageing of 36 months. Bear in mind that an equivalent champagne or English sparkling would be around the £40 mark, minimum, so there’s lashings of value for money here. It’s bright and saline with  green apple, oyster shell and anise-flavoured bubbles, which are noticeably refined and ‘champagne-like’ through its extended ageing.

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