Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Europe
342
Cavas Freixenet
New Beginnings
Barcelona, Spain
Halfway through the 19th century, the
European wine industry was almost wiped
out by a disease called phylloxera, a small
yellow bug from North America that took a
liking to the roots of the noble European
grapes and literally sucked the life out of
them. It caused devastation across the
continent, destroying 90% of all vineyards
and forcing millions off the land and into
the cities. Thanks to this root lice, waves of
immigrants from Italy, Spain, and France
went west to Ellis Island to escape poverty
and starvation.
The wineries tried everything to com-
bat the plague—dousing the vineyards in
nasty chemicals, or flooding the fields
(the bug apparently could not swim); the
more superstitious even tried planting a
dead toad under each vine. None of this
worked. In the end, vineyards had to com-
pletely replant their vines, grafting their
varietals onto American roots that were
bug-resistant—a method that horrified
the French, but in the end proved the only
solution. To this day, all fine wines have an
American root.
Like most catastrophes, phylloxera
brought a new beginning. Among other
things, it created a modern wine phenom-
enon called Spanish Cava: sparkling wine
from the Iberian peninsula that has gained
more fizz than champagne. When the Sala
family began to dig up disease-ridden
vines on their 13th-century estate, La
Freixenada, in the Mediterranean region
of Penedes, they decided to replant the
red grapes with white varietals such as
Macabeo, Xarel, and Parellada, vines that
were more suited to the dry rocky area
than what had been planted there before.
They then decided to make sparkling wine
using the traditional champenoise method,
inducing a second fermentation in the
bottle. Within 100 years, the winery was
the biggest producer of sparkling in the
world, and the word cava has become
synonymous with high-quality bubbly.
The winery itself is a rambling spread of
handsome limestone buildings, just west of
Barcelona. An ample courtyard is graced
with vintage motorcars and a magnificent
fountain; the words Cavas Freixenet are
framed by ivy, above a classical-style
facade. Inside, however, is a slick, modern
operation—reception rooms have designer
box sofas and backlit vaulted ceilings, glass
doors swing between rock walls, a recep-
tionist sits at a hotel-like counter. Past that
you'll see a massive industrial operation, a
huge bottle-stacked cellar, and a massive
wine store. The fascinating tour goes into
messy detail about how the winemakers
get sediment out of the bottle without los-
ing the bubbles; walls of bottles stand
behind net protection in case one should
explode and drown a tourist.
Speaking of drowning, Cava is tradition-
ally the wine used at Catalonian church
christenings. As numerous bottles are
popped open, even the newborn gets his
or her first sip. New beginnings, indeed.
Cavas Freixenet, Joan Sala 2, Sant
Sadurni d'Anoia ( & 34/93/891-7000; www.
freixenet.es).
( Barcelona (44km/27 miles).
L $$$ Hotel Villa Emilia, Calábria
115-117 ( & 34/93/252-5285; www.hotel
villaemilia.com). $$ Hostal L'Antic Espai,
Gran Via de les Cortes Catalane 660 ( & 34/
93/304-1945; www.lanticespai).
 
Search WWH ::




Custom Search