What is Cava de Paraje Calificado?

It is a new and very first qualification in Cava Industry that qualify PLOT (one part of the vineyards) by certain requirement. This qualification was launched in June 2016 and this months, finally, 12 cru have been qualified.

Paraje means "an isolated space" in Spanish.

It means one Spanish wine industry made an qualification of wines / cava related to its vineyards.

Requirement?

- age of vineyards 10+ years old

- hand picked

- yield is >8000kg/ha in grapes and >48hl/ha in must (juice)

- cava and base wine should be fermented in their own cellar

- 36+ months bottle ageing

- brut (dosage maximum 12gr/l of sugar)

Which plot are qualified as Cava de Paraje Calificado?

Turo d’en Mota - Recaredo (mediterranean climate, Catalunya)
Serral del Vell - Recaredo (mediterranean climate, Catalunya)
Vinyes de Can Marti - Torello (mediterranean climate, Catalunya)
Vallcirera - Alta Alella（mediterranean climate especially close to the sea, Catalunya）
La Capella - Juve i Camps（mediterranean climate, Catalunya）
Can Prats - Vins el Cep（mediterranean climate, Catalunya）
Font de Jui - Gramona（mediterranean climate, Catalunya）
Terroja - Castellroig（mediterranean climate, Catalunya）
Can Sala - Freixenet (mediterranean climate, Catalunya)
La Pleta - Codorniu (mediterranean climate, Catalunya)
El Tros Nou - Codorniu (mediterranean climate, Catalunya)
La Fideuera - Codorniu (mediterranean climate, Catalunya)

Objective?

To show the potential of top quality Spanish sparkling wine made by traditional method.

"Its price could be over 50 euros- as we could say Fórmula 1 of cava industry, that allow the winery to compete with the champions in the world. "

- President of Consejo Regulador del Cava, Pedro Bonet.

My understanding on "Cava de Paraje" is to express the origin and identity of cava - soil type, climate, vegetation, grape types etc...

Cava is a sparkling wines made with grapes that are grown in mediterranean climate. Grapes are fruity, mature and have high level of sugar. Thus normally its dosage level is low and domestic consumers (mainly Catalonian consumers) prefer Brut Nature (= zero dosage, sugar free). The personality of each cava should be more clear and easy to understand.

However, there is a problem; There is no difference between a cava made with 100% estate grapes and cava made with supplied grapes or supplied base wine, or aged for 9 months and for 10 years. All of them are categorised in a same group, with is "Cava".

Maite Esteve, the president of winery El Cep explained to me her feeling about Cava de Paraje

When I heard about Cava de Paraje for the first time, I was so happy and really willing to qualified. Our plot Can Prats is 5ha our of 95ha of our vineyards. Prats stream runs through the area and this plot is like a show case of our estate.

Who is Baixas Lehnberg family?

The Baixas Lehnberg family started its organic farming project over 40 years ago.

The family’s main aim is to create a sustainable, independent farming model, which fully respects nature.

Why Mosto Flor (grape juice), not wine?

Mosto flor (free-run juice in Spanish) i made with Vitis Vinifera. White is a blend of Macabeo and Xarel.lo, Red is a blend of Syrah and Alcant Bouchet (Garnacha Peluda).

They harvest the grapes in the very best condition. Select manually the bunches then press very softly. But they bottle the juice without fermentation. I could imagine that they could make beautiful wine easily.

Jesus Baixas (founder of Baixas Lehnberg) told me the reason;

There is many many wine and too many problems caused by alcohol in this world. So I wanted to produce Mosto Flor (grape juice) that does not harm anyone or anything. From small children to old people everyone can share and enjoy my juice. Because we produce the juice nature and now following biodynamic principals, we do not harm nature either.

It was not easy to make his dream come true, but his unique project finding collaborators and now the second and third generation of the family are looking after the project.

Biodynamic farming

The family observes and protects the biodiversity of all the plants and animals (including humans!) on their farm, in order to maintain the harmony and balance of the beautiful natural environment.
Today the new generation of the Baixas Lehnberg family has introduced a BIODYNAMIC philosophy to the farm, following the path of their parents.

The Farm

The 50ha farm boasts a diversity of climate and nature.

The soil consists of limestone, sand and clay.

In the middle of the farm lays a valley, which the family leaves wild at its most narrow point. The vines are planted in wider areas. Each plot is surrounded by woodlands (a total of 30ha of woods) making the farm both balanced and unique. Several species of animals, insects and plants share the farm in harmony.

The family has not ploughed the vineyards for over 10 years, or the olive farm for more than 30 years. As a result, the soil is rich in biodiversity.

Mosto Flor - 100% Pure grape juice

Due to having less contact with oxygen and passing fewer production processes, the health benefits of grapes are better conserved in juice than wine.

- chemical products in vineyards, process of concentration, sugar or E-number in juice.

+ benefit of grapes, such as antioxidant, natural energy, effect of polyphenol etc...