Crusading For Cava

Xavier Gramona is the gentle warrior taking up the fight for top-end Cava to the consumer. June Lee examines why Gramona might be your sparkling wine of choice in 2019.

The urban slicker, white-haired fifth-generation owner of Gramona is pacifist by nature, but he’s been leading a quest to improve Cava’s image for almost two decades. Xavier Gramona, 59, is a man of philosophy, who chooses his words with care and spends a good 10 minutes probing the merits of character versus personality. Just like his exemplary aged sparkling wines that can cost up to US$150, he’s not in a rush to reveal himself.

‘Budget champagne’

Sparkling wine in the traditional method of Champagne was made in Spain since the 1860s. It was often referred to as champán, a practice that ceased after 1972 when the Consejo Regulador de los vinos Espumosos (Regulatory Council of Sparkling Wines) established the use of the word ‘cava’ instead to avoid dispute with France. Cava simply means caves or cellars, referring to the storage areas where the wine is aged before it turns into a sparkling wine due to secondary fermentation in the bottle.

The problem for producers like Xavier is that his biodynamic, handcrafted and artisanal Cavas share the same shelf space as $5 options, preventing the industry from moving away from its cheap image. While the Council in 2017 announced a new designation of Cava de Paraje Calificado, akin to a grand cru-like labelling for specific terroir-driven Cava, the initiative hasn’t gone far enough for some producers.