2005 Gramona Cava Brut Nature III Lustros Gran Reserva

Community Tasting Note

honest bob wrote:

81 Points

Thursday, April 18, 2013 - From 75cl, excellent natural-faced crown cork. Reliable provenance, perfectly cellared. The wine in my glass is a mediocre 8 EUR Cava masquerading as a 30 EUR/95PP star. Amazing how an inflated price tag and a fancy write-up can convince people that they are drinking something special. Don't believe the hype. Yeasty and rather impure smell of mature white wine from non-aromatic grapes; very ordinary cava taste (inexpressive juice, rather fierce, obtrusive bubbles). Reminiscent of commercial supermarket cava without the added sugar; winey finish. Avoid. 81P

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5 comments have been posted

Comment posted by Neecies:

4/18/2013 6:42:00 PM - I bought four bottles, have drunk two with results identical to yours although I thought it had some RS. Tastes like cheap cava--big bubbles, bitter aftertaste. I paid $40 US, based on a 94 pt rating from Parker (I think). Jay Miller strikes again?
Comment posted by Periko:

5/3/2013 9:28:00 AM - I had this wine this year and it has pretty much nothing to do with your description.

I find a little bit imprudent to label a wine you seem to have tried once as "mediocre", "ordinary" and advice to "avoid" it. Probably you have not familiar with Xarel·lo cavas, which by the way its a quite aromatic grape but it's more known for its structure and body. It is true Gramona has a more mature profile, but that doesn't make it "cheap" or vulgar as it seems you think. Actually, a sparkling wine that rests 5 years on its lees can't certainly be very cheap and while in Spain it has a bit lower price tag (€25), it's a much better sparkler than many house champagnes. I wonder what would you say if you try Celler Batlle.

A better advice would be to try it again as maybe the bottle you had was not right. A possible output could be that this wine profile doesn't fit with your palate, as I think you may like more pungent and mineral whites. Admiting that would be more suitable and elegant than trashing a wine - with bullet proof history - like you did.

@neecies: who went nuts on this wine was Neal Martin, not JM.
Comment posted by Neecies:

5/3/2013 10:11:00 AM - Periko, I've opened two of my bottles with consistent results, and I'm a very experienced taster. I appreciate, and own, a very wide variety of wines, and am fully capable of recognizing bottling flaws. I also taste wine blind often, which is an excellent way of assessing value. So, did this wine taste to me like a $40 wine? No. Which I'm most sorry about, believe me with two more bottles in the cellar I wanted very much to find the opposite.
Comment posted by Neecies:

5/3/2013 10:11:00 AM - Periko, I've opened two of my bottles with consistent results, and I'm a very experienced taster. I appreciate, and own, a very wide variety of wines, and am fully capable of recognizing bottling flaws. I also taste wine blind often, which is an excellent way of assessing value. So, did this wine taste to me like a $40 wine? No. Which I'm most sorry about, believe me with two more bottles in the cellar I wanted very much to find the opposite.
Comment posted by honest bob:

5/3/2013 2:47:00 PM - I'm happy to hear that Periko had a good experience with this wine; "there are no great wines, only great bottles." But I can neither accept his criticism of my TN, retract nor apologise.

Dear Periko, it is true: I do indeed make a point of being direct (or just plain honest) and don't euphemize in my TNs - mainly because I buy 99% of the wine I drink from my own salary, and want to be reminded of my subjective opinion before (or at least after) buying further stocks in the future. But please respect the fact that - at least in this case - I was clear in stating that my TN described the wine I observed in my glass, and that it emenated from a specific single bottle with an individually described closure. I also gave a clear indication about provenance and storage. Had there been a lot number or bottle code, I would have quoted that too.

As far as my experience goes, well duh, I don't have a (wine) diploma, but I have been tasting wine for a while now (and posting on CT now and then for several years) and I did actually work a lot in Catalunya in the late 1980s during which time I got to know a little bit about artisanal cava production... My tastes are Catholic, and I think that is well documented on this forum. But 28 EUR retail in Germany is a premium (if not luxury) price for a bottle of Spanish wine (by my, subjective, reckoning); "95PP" is a very fancy rating by any standards. I think it is legitimate for me to have drawn attention to what I perceived to be a discrepancy between the poor quality of the expensive wine in the bottle I bought, and to my opinion that it bore no relation whatsoever to the WS rating which led me to purchase it in the first place.