If you are among those who associate cava exclusively with the celebration of successes and triumphs, with special dates or with sharing it with a good group of friends and family, it must have been months since you opened a bottle. Since the pandemic began, there is little to celebrate and the restrictions, imposed by the authorities to try to contain the virus, have ended ---since last year and I think for a good while--- with social gatherings. Therefore, if it were up to you, dear readers who only drink cava on special occasions and always in good company, the cava producers in this country could already close down.
For me, any excuse is good ---in fact, I don't need any excuse--- to have a glass of cava at any time of day. As an aperitif, to accompany a good lunch or dinner, or after coffee, to extend the after-dinner conversation. Despite everything, I think twice before ordering a glass of cava in Barcelona's bars and restaurants because these things can happen:
1-That they tell you more or less kindly that they don't serve cava by the glass because it's not worth it for them to open a bottle for a single customer.
2-That they serve you a glass of flat cava from a bottle that must have been open in the fridge for days.
3-That they open a semi-dry benjamin that they will charge you an arm and a leg for, and you'll have a stomach ache all afternoon.
It's surprising that, with Penedès just a stone's throw away, Barcelona doesn't act more decisively as the capital of cava, or at least, that it isn't a more enthusiastically cava-loving city. And now, don't get angry with me in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, I already know it's the undisputed capital of cava.
I'm not saying that, in Barcelona, you can't have a glass of good cava because any restaurant of a certain level is well-stocked. At La Vinya del Senyor or Vila Vinateca, of course, you can also have a proper glass of cava, as well as in many neighborhood wineries. I mean that I would like it if, in Barcelona, having a glass of cava were as simple as having a beer, and therefore, you could find cava of more than acceptable quality and at a reasonable price in the most popular bars and restaurants.There are many people who still drink cava only at Christmas, New Year's, birthdays... Well, and if they win the lottery, of course, then they drink it directly from the bottle, straight from the neck, after shaking it
Understand me well, the historic Xampanyet is a charming and fun place where more or less everyone has started a night out by emptying a few bottles of that sweet and pink unlabeled cava that invites to party and delights tourists, but now I'm talking about something else.
Perhaps if there were more demand there would be more supply and, perhaps, to encourage this demand it would be worthwhile for Barcelona to have an establishment dedicated exclusively to cava in which this product would not have to compete with wines and beers. As far as I know, and forgive me if I am wrong, there is currently none. The French ---who have always been very clever when it comes to promoting their sparkling wine--- have theirchampagneriesWhy doesn't anyone dare to do the same with cava? Perhaps, in this way, in a while, in Barcelona it would be as common to suggest "shall we have a cava?" as "shall we have a beer?"It is surprising that, with Penedès so close, Barcelona does not more decisively act as the capital of cava or, at least, that it is not a more enthusiastically cava-loving city