Rose, NV. Castell de Sant Pau

Castell de Sant Pau is owned and operated by Eva Lopez, a Spanish native, who was infatuated with Spain's iconic sparkling wine, Cava. She enlisted the help of the Lleo Family whose roots in the Penedes region go back to 1777. A surprising, but little known fact, is that Spain makes more sparkling wine that France, even Champagne, and is sold all over the world.

But Eva also found something very unexpected here, Trepat, a grape that is only grown in Spain and very little at that. It produces large, thick skinned grapes that normally would not make a rose because the skins might impart too much color. However, the beguiling flavors and nuances dictated that they figure out just how much skin contact is needed to achieve the color they were looking for.

Obviously, they succeeded as this selection plainly shows. But, that wasn't enough for Eva. She wanted further complexity so she turned to Garnacha, one of Spain's greatest red grapes. The marriage worked like a charm. The sustainable vineyards are in the perfect spot. They are bordered by mountains on one side and the coast on the other. This accounts for the slow ripening of grapes from these vines whose average age is 35-45 years old.

This Cava is mesmerizing. It explodes with red fruit essences like cherry blossom and strawberry, then swings into peach and apricot. This dizzying array of flavor would be a glorious accompaniment to oysters on the half shell, sushi or cracked King crab legs in lemon and butter.

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