Gramona, Cava Gran Reserva, 2001

Gramona is one of the great names in Catalan traditional-method sparkling wine — a quality-obsessed estate so committed to long aging and serious farming that it eventually walked away from the Cava DO altogether rather than share a name with the industrial stuff. This is one of their long-aged Gran Reserva bottlings from the 2001 vintage, built on the native Penedes grapes Xarel-lo and Macabeo and given years on the lees before release. At this age it has traded youthful fizz for something far more interesting: toasty, nutty, savory complexity with a gentle, fine mousse. If you have only ever thought of Cava as a party pour, this is the bottle that rewrites the definition. Drink it now.