Tempus III Cava Brut Reserva N/V
This Cava, made from Macabeo, reminded me of ginger ale. The bubbles faded fast, and there was ginger with a little white pepper heat.
Region: Valencia · Type: Sparkling · Vintage: NV · Producer: Torre Oria · Grape: Macabeo
Tasted 2025-02-04
In the glass
The bubbles disappeared quickly, and I could not tell whether the large glass was to blame. The fizz itself felt more like a soft drink than a sparkling wine, and I wondered if a short second fermentation might explain it. There was ginger, and a slight heat that I took to be white pepper. In the end it came close to ginger ale.
Producer
The story of Torre Oria starts with silk rather than wine: the Oria de Rueda family, originally in the silk trade, founded the winery in Requena in 1897. It was the first winery to obtain the Cava designation outside Penedès, and in 1993 its owners won a long and costly case before the supreme court (Tribunal Supremo) that let them go on making Cava.
Site
This Cava is from Valencia. The winery stands at El Derramador in Requena, in the Utiel-Requena region inland from Valencia, which sits between 600 and 900 metres above sea level. Its modernist casa-palacio is one of the most recognisable buildings among the vineyards of Valencia.
Vinification
The wine is made by the traditional method (método tradicional), with the second fermentation taking place in the bottle. Torre Oria was a pioneer of this method in the Comunitat Valenciana. It is made entirely from Macabeo.