Disclosure: This guest post is brought to you by Tanya.
Many people want to know more about Cava and Prosecco. Is it a champagne or wine? What is the difference between sparkling wine and champagne? First of all you must understand that champagne, as well as sparkling wine as we know it today, was invented and perfected in the Champagne region in France. Most of the sparkling wines in France and in other countries come from the French champagne. Cava is not a champagne and not any other sparkling wine. Cava Freixenet family business is #1 Cava producer in Spain. But how do these details about the history of champagne relate to Cava or Prosecco?
Spanish Cava began to be produced after the champagne in France. Cava mostly uses traditional Spanish grape varieties; however, there are a few examples made of French grape varieties such as Chardonnay. Generally, Cava is a mixture of native Spanish grapes. Another important point is that it is made by champagne technology. Cava can only come from several locations in Spain, not just one area. The most productive and the most famous area for Cava is the region located in the north-east of Spain, near Barcelona, or the Penedes region. High quality Cava should be soft, fresh, and slightly fruity, without excessive acidity. It has tones of wild white flowers, hawthorn, wild elder, fennel, rosemary, ground almonds, chicory, peach, apple and lime.
What about Italian Prosecco? Most people do not even know that “Prosecco” is a type of grape used in the production of this sparkling wine. It comes from the area around Valdobbiadene, Italy. When buying wine from this area, you can be assured of excellent quality and the price will be much lower than that of champagne. Despite the popularity of Prosecco, it would be too rash to call it an alternative to champagne, or even Cava. Prosecco is a little bit sweeter and simpler than Cava.
You can find a lot of differences between Cava and Prosecco. However, the main difference lies in the fact that these Spanish and Italian sparkling wines are much more democratic rather than Champagne. And it’s not only the matter of price. Among sparkling wines namely Spanish Cava is closer to its French “cousin” – champagne. Both Cava and Prosecco show inexpensive price segment (15-30 dollars); a significant difference between them hides only in the method of production.
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