GG_N54_FR-web

SPAIN
APPELLATION
this particular bodega has always favoured quality over quantity. Although 2023 was a
year of “climate challenges”, as Langa González points out, it also produced particularly
healthy, good quality fruit due to lack of rainfall preventing the spread of diseases such
as downy and powdery mildew. These conditions proved felicitous for crafting wines
with unique character. “We will have wines in styles that we have never seen before. This
is the very essence of winemaking, which is to try and transpose the true expressiveness
of the site into the glass”.
Obviously drought also led to a fall in production – roughly 15% on last year – adds
Langa González, “but fortunately rainfall in September slightly improved the situation”.
The consequences will become tangible in the future – “we will have less Cava over the
coming years” – but in some ways, this is “the natural law of our business”. In actual
fact, despite being relatively small, the bodega has significant inventories of Guarda
Superior Cavas, matured for over 18 months, one of which is its 2018 ‘Reyes de Aragon’
made from the 2018 harvest.
But how about the impact on prices? Some Cavas have increased their prices and done
away with promotions to avoid any inventory shortages, points out Langa González.
This new situation is also compounded by regulatory changes recently applied to the
Cava appellation, leading to a repositioning of many Cavas in national and international
EVERY YEAR, BODEGAS LANGA ENSURES IT SETS ASIDE AS MANY OF ITS FINEST BASE
WINES AS POSSIBLE FOR ITS STOCKS OF CAVAS SUPERIORS
106 WINTER 2023 • GILBERT & GAILLARD - THE FRENCH EXPERTS ON WINE