Decanter World Wine AwardsProducers desert Cava DO for its 'detrimental' image
- Friday 2 November 2012
Mas Comtal: Cava brand is 'detrimental'
Josep Albet of Albet I Noya winery, current president of the Regulatory Council of Penedes, told Decanter.com many growers were frustrated with the poor brand image of Cava.
They had decided to market their wines outside the DO framework, he said.
‘The extremely low price that Cava commands is sealed in many markets. In addition it is very difficult for high-quality Cava producers to justify their prices against companies operating under the same generic Cava name, that sell bottles at under €2 to supermarkets,’ Albet said.
Pablo Chamorro, Spanish wine author and expert in organic viticulture, said that nine growers had already abandoned the Cava DO to his knowledge, and that five more would potentially desert the appellation over the next 12 months.
Marta Milà, proprietor of the Mas Comtal winery said that she had left the DO in 2011 because the Cava brand was ‘detrimental, not beneficial to my commercial needs.’
Over 95% of Cava is produced in Penedes, although growers in a total of eight wine regions have the right to bottle Cava in Spain.
According to Albet, one of his forthcoming proposals to the council will be to shrink the existing appellation size drastically.
'Another problem is that the Cava appellation is too wide, covering major parts of Catalunya, Aragon etc. It is too much to control, understand and regulate. I always believe that small is beautiful.'
Albet said he is also preparing a recommendation to have the entire Penedes wine zone certified as organic, in order to further add value and differentiate the region's wines.
Have your say!
Tia Trussardi
November 11 04:22
The problem with the term Cava, like Sekt, was the absence of quality control. It's true that champagne varies in quality also, but champagne has the sub-category of "grandes marques" at least, and Sekt also has the more elite "b.A." class.
If describing the product as Spanish Sparkling Wine turns out to be a better money-spinner, what is to stop the Cava brands they are trying to leave behind from also adopting this term instead of, or as well as, Cava?
Also, presumably vineyards from other regions of Spain can now use this term, too.
It's ironic that there was a previous Decanter article on English sparkling wine brands trying to come up with a Cava-like term of their own!
madan
November 06 11:25
thats true that cava is the one of the best sparkling wine . but still not papular . but they need to do some more marketing and awrness of cava to the world.. i love cava ..
Ari-Heikki Vikman
November 06 10:52
Spanish sparkling wine sounds very very dull. Does not say much. Does not sound like good quality.
Winebubble
November 06 09:54
Champagne also is generic, and you can find inexpensive ones with poor quality, as much as excellent ones with outstanding quality. And still all is champagne... Champagne is know through its brands,that build up their reputation. Maybe Cava could build a stronger image through a better marketing, build up and reprensent high quality products through identified brands that consumers can associate with, and that without linking it to a specific region. Maybe something to think about ? And, I already tasted excellent Cava, but unforunately not sold in France... So second thought : distribution channels could change their approach to the product too...