NV Cordoniu Brut Cava Anna de Codorniu

Full bottle 1,559 g. 70% Chardonnay, 30% Macabeu, Xarello and Parellada. Very peachy on the nose and after a run of Ca' del Bosco Franciacortas, it tastes painfully sweet (in a stale candy kind of way) and one-dimensional. (TC)

The non-vintage Anna Brut (disgorged December 2011) is a blend of 70% Chardonnay, 15% Parellada and 15% Xarello and Macabeu. There is a touch of flint on the crisp, green apple and grapefruit-scented bouquet. The palate is crisp and taut on the entry: minimalist with a crisp Granny Smith apple and citrus lemon finish that shows a little more length than the Brut Nature. The following three wines are due for release in summer 2012 and will be sold as a three-pack for around $150.00. There will be further disgorgements, but I tasted those disgorged on February 29, 2012. Codorniu is one of the most famous Cava producers, credited with inventing the “recipe” for Cava based on the classic varieties (although contrary to some texts, according to Tom Stevenson, MW, in his “Encyclopaedia of Wine,” they did not actually introduce sparkling wine to the region after phylloxera devastated what had been primarily a region of red grape varieties.) They did controversially introduce Chardonnay to Cava, thus igniting the traditional versus non-traditional debate. Importer: Codorniu Cava & Estates, Jupiter, FL; tel. (561) 748-6747