Saturday night – A very good Knight! Part 1

We got together with Mick and Amy for our usual Saturday night dinner. Mick had selected the menu and the wines, so Kathy and I brought dessert.

For the first course Mick was making crab topped scallops and had a 2004 Freixenet Cava to pair with them.

"Warning - these tasty treats will disappear quickly!"

While Mick was cooking the scallops, Amy handed me the Cava to open. To open a sparkling wine without spilling it, grab the base of the bottle firmly in the palm of your left hand and grab the cork firmly in your right. Slowly work the cork back and forth and the pressure from the bottle will ‘pop’ the cork. Your left hand with the base of the bottle will cushion the bottle as it pops and stop the wine from spraying everywhere. I have used this method to open Champagne and sparkling wines numerous times without spilling a drop…except for this evening.

I was talking to Amy and Kathy with the bottle in my hands and had the bottle sort of on my lap as I was talking. I removed the top foil and then wire cover the cork, I reached up with my right to grab the cork and as soon as I touched it the stupid thing popped. I barely managed to grab the bottle and ended up spraying sparkling wine over my pants, the floor and the table. I guess the bright side was at least I didn’t drop the bottle and most of the wine was still in the bottle.

"Look, some wine is actually in the glass..."

I felt like an ass for the mess but in my defense, I have never had a cork that was as sensitive as that one was.

After cleaning up the mess we poured out the Cava and Mick served up the scallops.

"Good value for the money"

After nosing the wine, which wasn’t difficult to do as my pants, the floor and the table now smelled of it, aromas of lees, straw and a creamy/toasty aroma were present in the Cava. Tasting the wine brought forth a slightly under ripe citrus/lime/white grapefruit combo. The Cava was very dry, good acidity but had an awkward/bitter finish. It wasn’t a great match for the crab topped scallops as the sweetness of the crab topping was making the Cava do funky things taste-wise.

On the upside the crab topped scallops were excellent.

Here is the group rating for the wine -Mick - 83, Mark - 83, Kathy – 85, Amy - 85, Overall – 84.

Here is the LCBO information -

Freixenet Brut Nature Vintage Cava 2004

VINTAGES 182014
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 10.75
Wine, Sparkling Wine,
11.5% Alcohol/Vol.
Made in: Penedes, Spain
By: Freixenet S.A.
Release Date: Sep 29, 2007

Description - This vintage-dated Cava offers excellent value. Made in the traditional method, the grapes for this wine come from a vineyard that has a high limestone content. The resulting wine is light and clean with a distinct mineral tone and a long, creamy finish. An excellent aperitif, it would also pair well with a selection of poached or grilled seafood with a garlicky aioli.

For $10.75 this wasn’t a bad sparkling wine. Due to the sweetness of the crab topping a semi-sweet sparkler such as an Italian prosecco would have been a better match. It would be interesting to see the Cava paired with mussels or oysters as I think that would be a good pairing for this wine.

Click here for part 2