Naveran Cava 2007

Interesting wine on sale yesterday so it made an easy decision about what to serve with dinner.  The wine was a 2007 Naveran Cava, a brut Spanish sparkling wine.  My complaint with myself is that I don't drink enough sparkling wines, even though I very much like a lot of them, so this assuaged my guilt somewhat.

The wine is a blend of 50% Xarello, 30% Macabeo and 20% Parellada, three grapes with which I am totally unfamiliar.  The grapes are native to to Catalan region of Spain.  There were some very nice bubbles in the wine and it had a sharp citrusy nose.  There was a tiny hint of yeast, but nothing like the bread dough aromas in Champagne.  The taste was sharp and tart and very citrusy with lemon, lime and grapefruit tastes all blending together.  With those tastes there's no need to talk about the acid in the wine - it was more than there.  The wine was finished as a brut, but there was still just a touch of sweetness at the very end that balanced out the tartness.

Dinner was yakatori with a variation as an experiment.  The original recipe called for chicken thighs, chicken livers and chicken gizzards.  We did that, but we also made a seafood variant using some wild shrimp and some diver scallops.  The shrimp were good but the scallops were exceptional after being marinated in yakatori sauce and grilled on skewers with the shrimp.

The meal actually preceded the wine in the planning stage.  I had intended to drink an Austrian Riesling with this meal,  but the Cava jumped out at me while picking up a few things at the market.  In the end it turned out to be a good pairing, especially with that tiny bit of sweetness a the end of the wine. 

11.5% alcohol and $13.  A bargain for an inexpensive sparkling wine.