JUVÉ Y CAMPS
This piece is part of our series on Penedès, one of the great wine regions of Spain. We visited in July 2019.
We’re here for our tour!
After two culturally immersive weeks in Barcelona, where we drank enough Barcelona Water (Cava) to keep us fully hydrated in the summer heat, it was time to move on to the second stage of our Spanish journey: Penedès and a thorough discovery of Cava wine.
We visited four very different wineries:
Our first winery visit (of the entire trip) was Juvé y Camps. We had no idea what to expect. This was our first time tasting at a winery in Spain. What a pleasant surprise, to receive such an amazing tour of this large Cava producer.
We later learned that almost all wineries in the region offer appointment-only tastings, and they really dig into the experience. It’s not just tasting wine at a wine bar in a tasting room, it’s touring the vineyards, the barrel rooms, caves, learning about the history of the winery, the philosophy of winemaking, and finally at the end of the tour a focused tasting, usually with small bites. Each tasting tour was as amazing as the previous.
Historic Juvé y Camps lies in the heart of the famed Penedès village of Sant Sadurni d’Anoia, the jewel of the Penedès region. The original family home is now a central feature in the Sant Sadurni village.
This is the only producer we visited whose wines you can find in American grocery stores. We only receive their good everyday Cava, however—not the high end stuff.
A HISTORIC CAVA HOUSE
Regulators commonly award 50% of all of Spain’s Gran Reserva designations to the Cavas produced here. The winery is over a century old and was formed thanks to the marriage of two landowner families, the Juvé family and the Camps family. It was a husband (Mr Juvé) and wife (Ms Camps) collaboration.
The couple planted grapes intending to craft a Spanish sparkling wine akin to Champagne, in the traditional method. They dug caves in which to age the Cava deep under the streets of Sant Sadurní—underneath their family home, in fact! The caves, still used today, descend 6 floors deep underground, and spread several blocks under the winery and village, with thousands upon thousands of aging bottles of Cava.
Today Juvé y Camps is arguably one of the highest quality large Cava houses in Spain. They’re one of the first certified organic wineries in Spain.
By regulation, like the rest of Spain, they dry farm only. They’ve elected not to install irrigation, at least for now. All harvesting is done by hand, and this is an enormous task, as you can see from these shots of the expansive vineyards.
They also hand sort all the fruit, and get it into fermentation within minutes of harvesting. Their winemaking facility was built in the middle of their vineyards for this singular reason.
Juvé y Camps produces still red and white wines, but Cava is king. We explain all about the making of the Cava here.
A TOUR WITH ORIOL
The tour, hosted by the Juvé y Champs brand manager Oriol, started in their winery lobby with beautiful wine displays, then out to the gorgeous vineyards, then underground into the caves for our tasting.
The vineyards of Juvé y Camps. Montserrat is visible to the right on the horizon.
Truly, we were blown away. This state-of-the-art facility operates on gravity flow and is designed with such beauty and architectural grace that just walking through the facility is an architectural feast, starting with a trip up to the view tower where views of the valley and distant Montserrat mountains created a magnificent backdrop.
Inside, the wow factor continued. Every imaginable thought went into the winery design, both in function and aesthetic beauty.
The first floor is the large tank room. From there we traveled down to the barrel rooms. This is where the wine is made. The actual aging of the bottles takes place back in the village in the underground caves.
Notice the huge vents that moderate air flow and temperature. There is one circular room with the perimeter walls holding large tanks, and in the center lies an amphitheater with amazing acoustics. It has been designed for future cultural events, like chamber concerts, plays, and films.
After touring the vineyards and production we travelled back to town to tour the caves and taste the Cava. The caves aren’t often included in their tours, but if you can manage to book one, it is one of the most amazing winery experiences you may ever have.
The caves took decades to complete and they were built pre-electricity. They originally ran copper wires on the ceilings and had poles with lightbulbs that they’d hook on the copper wires to create an electrical conductivity for light. This was the only source of light in these vast pitch black caves deep under the village until electricity could be wired many years later.
We chatted with Oriol about North American perceptions of Spanish wines, and what major wineries like Juvé y Champs are trying to do to elevate the Spanish wine experience. Of course this was while tasting some of their very special wines.
This is our take-away. Spain doesn’t need to elevate the quality of their wines. They need to elevate the perception of the quality of their wines. We in the U.S. are often purchasing wines that are vastly underpriced based on quality. We perceive them as lesser because they are less expensive.
We shouldn’t!
Juvé y Camps Gran Reserva Cava is every bit as beautiful, finessed and complex as any French Champagne selling for 20 or 30 dollars more.
“Spain doesn’t need to elevate the quality of their wines.”
Stay tuned as we continue our journey. Join us as we discover the beauty of Spanish Cava, and by all means add Juve y Camps to your collection of wines for all your bubble cravings!
Yes, we were really there.