Sometimes I think I could mark the eras of my life by what inexpensive Cava I was buying at the time. Me and Cava go way back, each decade associated with a different label.
Segura Viudas from the corner store, bought by a friend with a borrowed ID. Next, the “black bottle bubbly”–that would be Freixenet Cordón Negro–in college and on my wedding day in 2009. After the ceremony, I chugged it straight from the bottle to get up the courage to slow-dance in front of everyone I knew.
And in 2012, when Total Wine came to town (effectively giving the supermarket wine aisles permission to stop trying), Borrasca Brut Cava became the go-to, cheap-n-cheeky bottle of fizz.
For years, Borrasca Brut Cava was my default New Year’s Eve “champagne.” It looks festive; it tastes fine. The shiny gold foil works like a magnet to lure drunk guests away from your fancy craft beer when they open the fridge. The glittery label–the texture of 80-grit sandpaper–provides much-needed traction while you clumsily wrestle with the cork.
For the Love of Cava
Sure, my taste and my circumstances may have improved since the days of throwing ragers with my four roomies. But I still have a soft spot in my heart for the CFC (cheap f*cking Cava).
Spain knew what it was doing, swiping the méthode champenoise from the French and shoving it down the neck of a bedazzled or be-ribboned black bottle. These are always drinkable, often very satisfying sparkling wines.
Twelve-dollar Cava runs circles around the sweet-and-sour, insipid taste of twelve-dollar Prosecco. When hosting, Cava is perfect as the first (or fourth or fifth) bottle of the night. It’s the best sparkling wine for mixing cocktails–or for those times when you’re paying more notice to the people you’re with than what’s in your glass.
Cava doesn’t beg you for attention, but it can reward a close look with complex aromas and a rich texture. Most of the time, Cava doesn’t come anywhere near the crispness and delicacy of quality Champagne. However, it’s often the most capable stand-in–especially for the price. (For a useful infographic on the differences, check out this article from issue 73 of Tannic Pannic, “Let the Cava Flow Like Lava”.)
Revisiting Total Wine’s Borrasca Brut Cava
Anyway, I often start or end a tapas- or cheese-gobbling session with a glass of Cava, and I like to keep it on hand for informal parties. But my Total Wine shopping trips have tapered off recently for reasons that are too complicated to go into here. Long story short: I hadn’t tasted any Borrasca for a while.
I found a bottle way in the back of my wine fridge while adjusting the thermostat. Probably a lone survivor from last New Year’s Eve. I decided to give it a fresh look–for old time’s sake, and also because Cava is easy to bust open for absolutely no reason at all.
It pours up a gaudy gold color with bubbles the size of minor planets. (For me, the coarseness of the fizz is the biggest giveaway that it’s Cava in my glass and not Champagne.) They are huge–and they go bouncing out of the glass with the kinetic energy of a toddler in a ball pit.
Borrasca opens with fruit-basket aromas: Ripe apple and pear and orange rind. Dry-ish with aggressive bubbles. The pomme-fruit flavors are tending toward poached/cooked. There’s less lemony zing than you find in, say, Segura Viudas (which has come full circle to once again be my go-to CFC).
Hovering just above the fruit are some pretty white florals. Just below it, a little nibble of pastry combined with nuttiness (almond biscotti?) The slight sweetness that’s present on the palate is a nice complement to the ripe fruit flavors. It finishes with spicy ginger and fresh orange juice, the latter evoking the Minute Maid you’re probably going to mix it with.
It’s worth pausing for a moment to share the marketing copy from Borrasca/Total Wine…because surprisingly enough, it describes the wine in a helpful way:
Produced using the traditional cava method, this wine represents authentic Spanish quality sparkling wine and spends at least 9 months in the bottle. It is crisp, clean and well balanced and features delicate aromas and unique freshness. The unmistakable taste leads from a full ripe apple, pear and bright citrus nose, encouraging big, round, soft flavors in the mouth. The finish is appealing and long with a slight touch of ginger. A perfect wine for brunch, as well as with desserts such as nuts, puff pastries and chocolate treats.
Often, winemaker’s tasting notes are total gibberish that bear no resemblance to what’s actually in the bottle. But Borrasca’s description gets an “A” for accuracy! Production method? Check. Relatable description of aromas/flavors? Check. Serving and pairing suggestions? Yep.
For $12 a pop (literally), you could do worse than to keep a couple of bottles of this Cava chilled for cocktails and spontaneous celebrations. Drink it fast, before the NBA regulation-sized bubbles fly out of bounds. There’s also a rosé version, with an irresistibly glam pink-glitter label.
Bottle: Borrasca Brut Cava (NV)
Variety: Proprietary white blend
ABV: 11.5%
Suggested retail: $12.99
My rating: 7.4 (out of 10)
Further reading: Tannic Pannic!: Let the Cava Flow Like Lava
Review disclosure: I was not compensated or provided any free products for this review. Opinions expressed on The Wine Fairy blog are entirely my own.
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