Juvé & Camps Reserva de la Familia 2021 Rosé Sparkling Wine

Have you considererd toasting this Christmas with sparkling rosés? This category is gaining increasing attention from quality producers, and one favourite recent release is Juvé & Camps Reserva de la Familia Rosé 2021. This cava has nothing to do with the rosé launched under the same name to mark the company’s 100th anniversary in 2022.

A Brut Nature Gran Reserva, it is the first sparkling wine that CEO Meritxell Juvé considers entirely her own creation. It also represents a shift in the company’s approach to rosés, moving away from the Pinot Noir focused cuvées like the entry-level Brut Rosé, the single-vineyard Milesimé and the top cuvée La Siberia, which is the house's most expensive label, surpassing the Cava de Paraje Calificado La Capella.

The Reserva de la Familia rosé blends 65% Xarel.lo, 30% Pinot Noir and 5% Garnacha Tinta. The early-ripening Pinot Noir is pressed directly and kept on its lees in cold storage until the Xarel.lo and Garnacha musts are ready to ferment together. After the second fermentation in the bottle, the wine is aged for 30 months.

The result is a pale-coloured Provençal-style cava defined by its vibrant, almost citrus character (raspberry, lime, grapefruit), which gives the wine a distinctive refreshing quality. The acidity provides tension and a lovely persistence making it highly versatile. It will be interesting to see how it develops over the next two to three years.

While Xarel.lo and Pinot Noir are sourced from the family's property in Espiells, Garnacha is grown in Mediona, one of the highest areas of Penedès. Here the family owns 200 hectares, much of which remains unplanted -a significant asset for Juvé & Camps in the face of climate change.

€24 
Score: 93
Over 50,000 bottles; production is expected to reach 80,000 bottles.