Score: 91/100
Llopart is one of the most famous Cava houses, elaborating fine sparkling wines and based the Catalonia region of Spain, close to the city of Barcelona.
This cuvée called ‘Original 1887 Gran Reserva’ is a special bottling made using the most traditional methodology in commemoration of the 125th Anniversary of Llopart’s first-ever produced bottle of Cava. You’ve guessed it, and it’s written all over Llopart’s packaging: 1887 is the house’s foundation year.
This Cava wine is made using the traditional local ‘Cava blend’ of grape varieties from estate old-vine vineyards at Heretat Can Llopart de Subirats:
- Montònega 50%: Vineyard “L’Alzina” from 1960
- Xarel·lo 25%: vineyard “Pere de Can Ros” from 1954
- Macabeo 25%: Vineyard “de l’Isidoro” from 1955
It was made using the ‘traditional method’ where the second fermentation and aging are done within the same bottle (like in Champagne). It was then aged for a rather long time on its lees for a minimum of 60 months (5 years).
This is a ‘Brut Nature’ also known as Zero Dosage meaning no additional sugar was added at bottling to preserve the wine’s authentic expression.
The bottling reviewed here is the 2009 vintage.
So how good is this Llopart Original 1887 Gran Reserva Cava?
The answer is in the tasting notes:
This Cava comes in a rather intense golden yellow color, some brown hues. One can see there’s been some work and sophisticated maturation going into this wine just by looking at the appearance.
The aroma profile is quite intense, complex but also delicate.
Confit lemon, Christmas pudding spices (nutmeg, clove), a touch of smoke, some walnut and buttery dough. It’s also mineral and quite light to smell despite the intensity and the depth of the nose.
The palate is also rich and powerful, bursting with flavors of roasted nuts, honey, biscuits, the confit lemon again, some tropical and more.
Intense nutty, slightly-smoky feel together with luscious ripe citrus fruit characters. Such a complex spectrum of flavors, from roasted but, tropical fruits, Bourbon-like notes of caramel and toasted corn, leather, raisins, and so on…
Bubbles are very fine and together with a soft body structure, it gives an impression of great silkiness and delicacy. Great balance in a dry style, yet despite being a Brut Nature, it never feels aggressively acidic. Well balanced by the richness of the body and the ripeness of the fruit characters.
Quite a long, a little phenolic and slightly vegetal finish on notes of honeysuckle. That’s the only regret, the second half of the palate sensation, from mid-palate to finish falls a little short on body, and leaves a little too much dryness in your mouth.
Overall
A delicate, powerful and complex Cava sparkling wine, filled with ripe fruit richness and well balanced by sophisticated secondary flavors from the winemaking.
Wine & Food Pairing
Dry, it will pair beautifully with many foods, from delicate canapes, to fish or seafood in creamy sauce. A wine meant and made for gastronomy, that demands to be paired with subtle sophisticated foods.
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