Sparkling presence

There's a smart, glass-fronted Cava Bar in Barcelona Airport, sited a few metres from the departure lounges and flanked by expensive boutiques. Invariably busy, it's a very stylish place to have a glass of fizz. Hang on un segundo, some of you may be thinking, what's he talking about. Cava, stylish? It might sound incongruous to British wine drinkers, but in its home country Cava enjoys a surprisingly chic image, recognised as a sparkling wine style in its own right, rather than compared (usually unfavourably) with Champagne.

In Britain, Cava is a good deal less glamorous. Mind you, this doesn't stop us buying large quantities of Spanish fizz. Last year we drank more than 6.5 million bottles of the stuff, making us Cava's third biggest export market. Sales have more than doubled since 1990, and there's no sign of deceleration. Freixenet Cordon Negro is now the third most popular sparkling wine brand in the UK behind Martini Asti Spumante and Veuve du Vernay - arguably not the best company in which to be seen, but still an impressive feat.

Nevertheless, that downmarket image persists. Most Cava is flogged - and I mean flogged - by supermarkets at £5.50 or less. Just before Christmas one major multiple was selling its own-label Cava at £3.29 a pop. There's nothing wrong with the stuff in the bottle in most instances, but the knock-down prices and the supermarket association make it difficult for Cava to establish itself in the on-trade. It is no surprise that 90% of Cava is drunk at home.

"Cava has a lot of negative baggage," says Eamonn Newell of Moât Hennessy, whose Torre del Gall brand is aimed equally at the on- and off-trades. "I think it could be bigger in restaurants, but other sparkling wines, especially those from California and Australia, are much more trendy. The most successful sparkling wines are things like Mumm Cuvée Napa and Green Point, which have a premium image." What can Cava do to compete? The only way to break the mould, Newell believes, is to "sell the brand on the back of wine quality".

There is no doubt in my mind that the quality of Cava has improved considerably in the last five years, thanks to better wine-making practices, investment in new technology and the introduction of Chardonnay as part of the grape mix. Most Cava is still made from three local grapes - Macabéo, Parellada and Xarel-lo - but Chardonnay is starting to pop up in a growing number of blends and Xarel-lo (the most rustic of the local trio) is being phased out in many of the best wines in favour of higher proportions of Macabéo. As a result, Cava tastes a lot better than it used to.

small producers

You wouldn't know it from a glance at a supermarket shelf, but not all Cava is cheap and cheerful. There is an impressive array of small to medium-sized bodegas, such as Alsina y Sarda, Juvé y Camps, Gramona, Olivella Ferrari, Roura, Aliguer and Torre del Gall, making tasty Cavas which are as good as anything from the New World at the price. In fact, some of them could compete with many an own-label Champagne. Codornºu and Freixenet (the latter mainly under the Segura Viudas label) also make good stuff.

So are pubs and restaurants missing a trick? Philip Rowles, wine manager at Freixenet (DWS) UK, certainly thinks so. "People enjoy the Cavas they buy in supermarkets and on holiday and they want to drink something similar when they go out for dinner. They don't see Cava as a cheap alternative to Champagne; they buy it for its own qualities." Rowles has noticed "a major movement" in the on-trade of late, citing restaurants such as the Oxo Tower and the Hotel du Vin as high-profile Freixenet stockists, as well as Bass and Shepherd & Neame pubs. "The first thing we have to do is persuade more restaurateurs to list Cava in its own right rather than burying it amongst a lot of other sparkling wines. The general awareness of Cava is definitely growing in the on-trade."

Fair enough, but for the moment, Cava is not a big seller in pubs and restaurants. Even Spanish eateries like El Nido in Forton and Rebato's in London find it comparatively difficult to sell. "We sell about one bottle a week," says René Mollinga of El Nido. "Table wines from Rioja, Navarra and the Penedés are far more popular." Not all Spaniards agree with him. La Giralda in Pinner and Cambio de Tercio in the Brompton Road both report sales increases in recent months.

The quality is definitely there, according to Marco Rebato of the eponymous tapas bar. "Not all Cava is good, but the reaction of people who order a bottle for the first time is pleasantly surprised as a rule. Part of the problem is that people see it as a cheap alternative to Champagne, and more often than not they'd rather spend a bit extra and buy something French."

rival giants

The dominant producers in both the off- and on-trades are the Freixenet Group (Freixenet, Castellblanch and Segura Viudas) and the Codornºu Group (Codornºu, Rondel and Raimat). These rival Cava giants, currently engaged in a series of vindictive law suits about everything from bottle designs to authorised grape varieties, sell well over two-thirds of the Spanish fizz sold in this country. Freixenet is the dominant bodega in off-licences and supermarkets, while Codornºu does better in restaurants, according to Mike Hothersall of Codornºu UK. In the on- trade, the only other significant brand is Cavas Hill.

It is still possible to find other names on restaurant lists. Indeed, Mark Wilson of Hedley Wright, which imports Ravent¢s Rosell Cavas, says that smaller brands find life easier in the on-trade. "Codornºu and Freixenet are so widely known that some restaurateurs steer away from them. There's definitely an opening for lesser-known brands, although for the time being Cava is pretty much restricted to Spanish restaurants."

Distribution remains a problem for Cava. Very few of the top non-Spanish restaurants list Cava, partly because of its downmarket image, but also because no one asks for it. How long will it be before the general popularity of Spanish wines spills over into the restaurant sector? There are signs that things are moving, as Rowles points out, but it's a stroll rather than a sprint. Given the fact that innovation in the on-trade tends to lag behind the off-trade, it may be some time before we see a range of Cavas in a Michelin-starred establishment. For now, the best place to sample different Cavas is in Barcelona Airport. n