For anyone learning the finer details of wine, you typically memorize that there are three core grapes to Cava: Xarel·lo, Macabeu, and Parellada. The first two abound in individual merits, especially my Carignan-cheat-grape, Xarel·lo. But with Parellada, I just sorta understood it to be “wine filler”. Generally neutral and low in alcohol, it neither impeded the blend nor added much except that when making sparkling wine, it allowed you to bring down the alcohol as DO Cava is the only Spanish DO with a maximum alcohol, set at 12.8% (minimum, […]

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