At the end of March, we threw a little shindig for Ryan on his birthday consisting of wine, mounds of grilled butifarra and dozen friends. And with the appropriate social graces, many of our friends came bearing gifts, all looking distinctly similar to a bottle of wine. Clearly, they had been well versed in the ways of gift giving for an uber-wine geek!

The Rimarts Brut Reserva from Sant Sadurni d’Anoia is one of Ryan’s birthday bottles which has been sitting patiently in the refrigerator just waiting for the right moment to be uncorked. And today just happens to be the lucky day as new friends for the States have been invited for a traditional Catavino Cookout on our terrace complete with grilled chicken, butifarra, grilled peppers, artichokes, and of course, regional cured hams and cheeses.

The strangely appropriate timing of this grand uncorking comes just one day before DO Cava releases their brand new image, coupled with the new slogan, “From the Land to the Heart”. Can you hear the violin’s playing the background and feel the gentle wind ruffling your hair, as you overlook their vast, rolling vineyards? As told on the Wines of Spain website, the idea behind this heart warming slogan according to DO Cava’s Regulating Council, Gustavo García Guillamet, is to encompass the entire winemaking process, from the very earth where, “Cava is born as a gift for the senses, wooing one’s emotions and going straight to the heart”. Question: Do you suddenly feel compelled to savor a glass of cava based on this eloquent and moving slogan? Are your keys in hand prepared to buy up a few cases of brut, brut nature and semi seco cava?

But wait, there’s …

Yesterday, we traveled two hours due west by train to Villafranca del Penedes, where met with the regulating council of Cava in order to provide you the nitty gritty on what does and does not constitute a Cava wine. However, in light of our meeting, we quickly realized that Cava is not as simple of a definition as you might imagine, nor are the responsibilities of the regulating body as obvious as you might think. Therefore, rather than provide you with a long diatribe about Cava wine, we thought you might enjoy a little test to see how much you truly understand about Cava wine. The game is called (insert deep echoey voice followed by a sinister laugh), Fact or Fiction.

How to Play

We challenge you to answer each question below with either true or false in the comment box.

Example: T,T,T,F,F,T,F,T,F,T,F,T,T

Then, on Monday, December 17th, we will post the results of the contest, along with the winner. In the case of multiple winners, only one will be chosen at random.

Prize

The winner will receive a snazzy, new Catavino T-shirt!

True or False

1. Cava is a sparkling wine that must be aged for at least 1 year in bottle prior to being sold.
2. Cava uses the same method of production as Champagne.
3. Cava is produced a small specified region in Cataluna, first designated in 1966.
4. Cava can only be made from the white grape trinity: Parellada, Xarel.lo and Macabeo.
5. Cava producers recommend white fish, chicken, salads, fruit and nuts to pair with their Cavas, so as not to mask or diminish its elegant, crisp flavors.
6. The most popular Cava worldwide is a Cava Brut, containing anywhere between 0-15 grams of sugar per liter.
7. It is not the responsibility of the DO to promote Cava, …