2005 Cava Brut de Brut Gran Reserva Recaredo i gaveæske

Very introvert and showing great finesse. It is clean, displaying apple and melon notes and a delicate autolytic character of bread, toast and mushrooms. Very refined bubbles and mineral expression beneath. Extremely elegant and subtle. No hurry at all when drinking. It still has an extended ageing potential despite having spent almost 100 months' ageing on the lees. (FC)

The 2005 Brut de Brut Gran Reserva Brut Nature, a blend of 55% Xarello and 45% Macabeo, aged for 88 months in bottle, might be just going through a difficult phase, and does not say much. You need to pull it to get shy aromas of spices, yeasts and toasty bread intermixed with some notes of apples and fennel. It also feels quite compact in the palate with very small, well-integrated bubbles and a thin, persistent acid spine. Drink now-2017.