CAVA REQUENA, NOT JUST CAVA

When people think of Cava, they often imagine Spain's most festive sparkling wine: elegant, lively, and made using the same traditional method as Champagne. Yet behind its fine bubbles lies something far more complex — a category shaped by place, climate, and viticultural identity.

Among the different areas authorized to produce Cava, Requena (Altos Levantinos, Valencia) stands apart. It is the highest-altitude region for traditional method sparkling wine in Spain, a landscape where elevation, continental freshness, Mediterranean influence, and calcareous soils come together to shape sparkling wines of finesse and tension.

For Viña Memorias, this origin is not a secondary detail. It is the foundation of our sparkling wine identity — and of our commitment to crafting fine sparkling wine with authenticity, precision, and elegance.

What is Cava?

Cava is not simply a sparkling wine style. It is a Protected Designation of Origin (D.O.P.), governed by strict rules on origin, authorized grape varieties, vineyard conditions, viticulture, aging, and winemaking method.

All Cava must be made using the traditional method, in which the second fermentation takes place in the bottle. This long, precise process is what creates its fine bubbles and complexity.

Unlike Champagne, however, Cava is not limited to a single region. The D.O.P. spans different parts of Spain, each with its own climate and character, giving rise to distinct expressions of Spanish sparkling wine.

The Four Areas of the Cava D.O.P.

Today, the Cava appellation includes four major production areas, all united by the traditional method, yet clearly different in personality:

• Comtats de Barcelona – the historical heartland of Cava in Catalonia.

• Valle del Ebro – covering authorized areas in Aragón and La Rioja.

• Viñedos de Almendralejo – the approved zone in Extremadura.

• Requena (Altos Levantinos) – in the inland Valencian landscape, and the highest-altitude area for Cava production in Spain.

At Viña Memorias, our MEMORIAS BRUT RESERVA is born in this last origin: Cava Requena

(Altos Levantinos), where altitude, old vines, organic farming, calcareous soils, and careful cellar work shape a sparkling wine of purity, freshness, and precision.

Cava Requena (Altos Levantinos): More Than a Name

Among the different Cava origins, Requena offers a particularly distinctive profile. Located in the interior of Valencia, its vineyards often lie between 600 and 900 meters above sea level, making it the highest-altitude area for Spanish sparkling wine production.

This elevation matters. At these heights, grapes ripen more slowly, preserving their natural acidity while developing aromatic finesse and balance — qualities essential for producing high-quality traditional method sparkling wine.

For Viña Memorias, this natural environment is central to our philosophy. Our 45-year-old Macabeo vines — planted by hand in the high-altitude vineyards of Requena — benefit from decades of root depth and vineyard equilibrium, yielding fruit with vibrant acidity, elegant structure, and a clean mineral profile. These are the qualities that define the style of our MEMORIAS BRUT RESERVA: a sparkling wine crafted with the seriousness and intention of fine wine.

Why Requena Is So Well Suited to Fine Sparkling Wine

High altitude and freshness

Altitude slows ripening and helps preserve acidity, resulting in greater precision, better balance, and more refined aromatic expression.

A meeting point of climates

Requena benefits from a rare climatic balance. Mediterranean influence brings light and moderated humidity from the east, while inland continental conditions provide dryness, thermal contrast, and stability. Warm days help the grapes ripen fully; cool nights preserve tension and freshness. This contrast is especially valuable for sparkling wine, where freshness is not just desirable — it is essential.

A naturally favorable environment for organic viticulture

With abundant sunlight, regular air flow, and relatively low disease pressure, Requena offers excellent conditions for sustainable and organic vineyard management. This is one of the reasons why this landscape fits so naturally with the philosophy of Viña Memorias.

Calcareous-clay soils

Requena's calcareous clay soils are rich in limestone, low in fertility, and naturally well drained. These conditions help control vine vigor and encourage deeper root systems, leading to more focused and expressive fruit. For Macabeo, this is particularly important — supporting wines with tension, subtle minerality, elegance, and persistence that elevate sparkling wine beyond fruitiness alone.

The Grapes Behind the Bubbles

Cava can only be made from authorized grape varieties, chosen for their freshness, structure, and suitability for bottle aging.

The principal white grapes are:

• Macabeo (Viura) – floral, citrus-driven, fresh, and versatile.

• Xarel·lo – structured, herbal, and more textural.

• Parellada – delicate and light, often bringing finesse.

• Other permitted white grapes include Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Malvasía. For rosé Cava, permitted grapes include Garnacha, Monastrell, Pinot Noir, and Trepat.

At Viña Memorias, we chose to focus on 100% old-vine Macabeo for our MEMORIAS BRUT RESERVA. It is a deliberate choice: authentic, precise, and deeply connected to our terroir in Requena (Altos Levantinos). Our 45-year-old vines have had decades to adapt to this high-altitude landscape — their roots reaching deep into limestone soils, their yields naturally low, their fruit carrying the kind of concentration and mineral character that younger plantings simply cannot replicate.

Cava Categories: Aging With Intention

One of the key elements in Cava quality is the time the wine spends aging on its lees. This period refines the bubbles and builds depth, texture, and complexity.

The main categories are:

• Cava de Guarda – minimum 9 months aging.

• Cava de Guarda Superior Reserva – minimum 18 months aging.

• Cava de Guarda Superior Gran Reserva – minimum 30 months aging.

• Cava de Paraje Calificado – single-site Cava, aged at least 36 months, representing the highest classification.

Recent regulations have reinforced the importance of intention from the start. A producer must define the category at the beginning of the process; a wine cannot simply be aged longer and later upgraded. This gives each bottle more coherence, more precision, and more meaning.

At Viña Memorias, our MEMORIAS BRUT RESERVA is conceived from the outset as a wine for extended aging. Classified as Reserva — which requires a minimum of 18 months — we age ours for at least 24 months, a deliberate choice to build greater complexity, refinement, and depth than the category demands. Made from 45-year-old Macabeo, it is crafted to express both the character of the vineyard and the patience that fine sparkling wine deserves.

A Note on Kosher Production

Producing premium sparkling wine under kosher certification is not simply a matter of compliance — it is a commitment that runs through every stage of the process, from vineyard to cellar to bottle.

At Viña Memorias, our OU Kosher and MKL certifications are held alon

gside our organic farming practices and our DO Utiel-Requena designation. These are not parallel categories — they are integrated into a single, coherent vision of quality. We believe that fine wine and kosher production are fully compatible, and MEMORIAS BRUT RESERVA is our expression of that conviction: a sparkling wine that meets the highest standards of both craft and certification, without compromise to either.

For the kosher wine world, we offer something genuinely rare — a premium, terroir-driven, high-altitude Cava from old organic vines, made with the ambition and seriousness of fine wine. For the broader world of fine sparkling wine, the kosher dimension is simply one more expression of the rigour and intentionality behind every bottle.

Conclusion: Requena Is Not Just Cava

As the world of Cava becomes more precise and origin-driven, place matters more than ever.

For us, Cava Requena (Altos Levantinos) is not simply an administrative designation. It is the expression of a high-altitude Valencian landscape where climate, soil, 45-year-old vines, and the traditional method come together in a distinctive way.

At Viña Memorias, we do not see our sparkling wine as just another Cava. We see it as a fine sparkling wine shaped by elevation, heritage, old vines, and respect for origin — crafted to the same standard we hold across our entire portfolio.

Cava Requena is not just Cava. It is origin, precision, identity, and finesse in every bubble.