Andrea's Pairings

Italian Prosecco was last year's hot bargain bubbly, but this year I think Spain's cava sparkling wines have them beat on the two most important fronts - price and flavor. Depending on where you live, great cavas are often half the price of Prosecco, and they are easily double the flavor, too. The reason is that they are produced with the same painstaking method as French Champagne and great American sparklers, with a second fermentation in the bottle that gives you bubbles and more. That's because as the fermentation progresses, the yeasts break down, creating all kinds of new aromatics and flavors in the process. Aria Cava Brut from Segura Viudas, and Paul Cheneau Brut, remain two of my all-time favorites. More recently I've come to love a new crop of rosado (the Spanish word for rose) cavas, for tremendous complexity, cherry fruit and spice that drinks like a wine, so it's a beautiful, festive and perfect-pair choice for holiday meals. Two to look for are Freixenet Brut de Noirs Rosado and Codorniu Pinot Noir Rose. I tasted the Codorniu blind against French rose Champagne and it was just as good - wow.