The Dellara Cava Brut is a $6.99 ALDI Sparkling wine from somewhere in Spain. I say somewhere in Spain, since you would normally see (about 90% of the time) the Penedes DO or Catalonia (near Barcelona) on the label, but the Dellara simply says “Product of Spain“. It had the Cava stamp on the top of the bottle, so it is the real deal, but it is probably produced at a village that had traditionally made Cava, but is outside of the Penedes region and since this is probably a custom label wine made for ALDI they didn’t go out of their way telling you much about where the wine was produced and by whom. The one major thing to remember is that ALDI is a major player in the value priced wine sales in Europe, their reputation there by far exceeds their US wine reputation. They sell massive amounts of wine in Europe and have great contacts with excellent producers, ALDI wins European wine awards on a regular basis, so when you see German, Italian, or Spanish wine (for some reason I don’t see much French wine on ALDI US store shelves) there is a pretty good chance they deliver bang for the buck. Also, remember that Cava and Champagne are produced with the exact same production methods, Cava, by the way, uses different grapes and Champagne is aged far longer, Prosecco is made with completely different production techniques. So, Cava and Champagne should show similarities, though the different climate, soils and grapes do make them different tasting Sparkling wines. This is a Brut wine which means this is on the dry side or not sweet and the alcohol content is a mild 11.5%.
The color is a golden yellow with a touch of silver and there are plenty of bubbles. The nose is crisp and delicate, a little brioche, some lemon, a little apple, pear, and grapefruit. This is a well-balanced Cava, the acidity is not overpowering (I can think of a couple of value priced Cava producers who make inexpensive Bubbly that are so acidic that it feels like your dissolving the enamel on your teeth), this is a very sippable Bubbly. It tastes of lemons and yeasty bread (mild), green apple, salty cashews, dried pear pieces, lime, and faint spice. The finish sort of vibrates in your mouth and does not let go.
The Dellara Cava Brut is a highly drinkable, tasty Cava, it doesn’t have layers of depth, but at $6.99 you aren’t expecting that. The more I sip it, the more I like the flavors on display. The Dellara would make a first class party wine, cheap Bubbles that deliver and delivers both flavor and value is not a wine to be ignored. Maybe ALDI isn’t the first place you think of for your Holiday party wine supplies, but dollar for dollar the Dellara Cava Brut will be tough to beat this Holiday season.
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