The Best Cava Is Not Even Called Cava
And other lessons in confusion among Spain's finest sparkling wines.
One of my favorite podcasts is 60 Songs That Explain the ‘90s by music critic Rob Harvilla. I especially love Harvilla’s audio essays on Guns N Rose’s “November Rain,” Oasis’ “Wonderwall,” Boyz II Men’s “End of the Road,” and Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On.”
A recent episode deals with the controversy surrounding the 1993 release of Tag Team’s “Whoomp! (There It Is)” (which Harvilla argues is a “strip-club song that has transcended the strip club and now aspires to turn the whole wide world into a strip club”). However, a couple of months before Tag Team, another group called 95 South had already released a very similar — and similarly titled — song: “Whoot, There It Is.” The controversy and confusion culminated in an appearance by both groups on the The Arsenio Hall Show, where viewers voted on their favorite by calling a 900 number. Ah, 1993…what a time to be alive! In the end, Tag Team’s version, more mainstream and less raunchy, was the big, popular hit—the one still played at weddings and in Geico commercials—while 95 South’s is now more of a footnote.
I’ve been pondering the subtle, but obvious, differences between “Whoomp! (There It is)” and “Whoot, There It is.” I’ve also been thinking about how confusion in pop culture and the marketplace happens, and the consequences of this confusion. And so—for the purposes of this newsletter—I’ve been thinking about cava.
Cava is Spain’s best-known sparkling wine. The finest cava is Spain’s answer to Champagne. Unfortunately, in most markets across the world, cava competes in a race to the bottom with cheap prosecco. Within Spain alone, 90 percent of cava retails for under 10 euros. More than 75 percent of cava production is by two huge wineries, Freixenet and Codorníu, who control the Cava D.O. Yes, perhaps surprisingly, Cava is a Denominación de Origen, yet it’s one that’s not based on place. Cava sparkling wines can be made in over 20 different regions across Spain, as long as they’re made méthode traditionnelle (the key difference between cava and prosecco). There is an ocean of uninspiring, middling cava. “The sparking wine in this region was always supposed to be fruity and fun,” says Ana López Lidon of Gramona. “But we know it can be a serious wine.”
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