Rebels ditch cava name, which they say has become associated with cheap, inferior fizz

A rebellion is bubbling among makers of cava.

Six of Spain’s top producers of the sparkling wine are distancing themselves from the cava name, which is protected under Spain’s denominación de origen (DO) system, saying the overproduction of cheap fizz has damaged their product’s image.

The six producers of cava, which is mainly made in Catalonia, say they believe the DO has ceased to be a guarantee of quality, echoing complaints by Rioja winemakers. The group, which calls itself Corpinnat, announced earlier this month that it intends to register itself and its products under that brand name, and could end up abandoning its DO status.

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Corpinnat is following the example of another breakaway movement, which saw 14 cava houses give up DO protection and rebrand their products as Clàssic Penedès four years ago – a move met with approval by sommeliers and wine merchants.

Corpinnat has invited other producers to join its new effort, as long as they meet the brand’s criteria. To join, they must be located in a specific area of Penedès, the area south of Barcelona where 95% of cava is produced. The grapes must be grown organically and harvested by hand and the wine must be produced on the vineyard and matured over at least 18 months, rather than the standard nine.

“The success of any sector has to be based on the segmentation and perfection of the product,” Xavier Nadal, the head of Cavas Nadal, told the Guardian. “There’s a place in the market for all kinds of cava, the problem is they all end up on the same shelf without distinction, the good and the bad.”

Xavier Gramona, the head of another of the breakaway houses, said: “We don’t want to abandon the DO, but we need to add value so that the 5,000 farmers who work in the sector can survive. In Champagne, a farmer with five hectares drives a Mercedes. Here, he can hardly make ends meet.”

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Launching Corpinnat in Penedès, Josep Roca, the sommelier at the Michelin-starred El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, praised the project for “bringing excellence to the sparkling wine sector”, saying it would also help guarantee a minimum price for growers.

Last year 250 million bottles of cava were sold worldwide, of which only about 12% were of top quality, according to the cava regulatory council. The highest quality cava receives a Reserva or Gran Reserva label, which means it is matured for at least 24 months.

The smaller producers, such as Nadal and Gramona, say they cannot compete with the economies of scale of the two biggest houses, Freixenet and Codorníu, and want to help their brands stand out from the crowd.

Cheap cava retails for as little as €1.55 in Spanish supermarkets and between £5-6 in the UK. In the export market, cava finds itself competing against Italian prosecco when it once aspired to compete with champagne.

“The point isn’t to compete with champagne but to show people the different values that cava has,” said Nadal. “The product is good but people need to be informed, not just about the different ageing processes but the different cava-making philosophies. We don’t need to compete with anyone.”