Gramona III Lustros Gran Reserva Brut Nature

Cava, Spain

Spain's most extraordinary extended-lees sparkling wine — Xarel-lo with Macabeo and Chardonnay, aged 15+ years (III Lustros) on lees in the family's Penedès cellars before disgorgement. Extraordinary autolytic complexity: toasted hazelnut, brioche, dried citrus peel, almond blossom, chalk mineral, and a persistent, fine mousse. Rivals vintage Champagne for mineral complexity. The definitive argument for Catalan traditional method wine.

Pairing intelligence

• aperitif: Spain's most prestigious charcuterie and its most complex sparkling wine — the wine's autolytic complexity and mineral depth bridges the ibérico's extraordinary nutty-sweet fat; tomato bread provides acidic contrast; Manchego bridges the chalk mineral
• aperitif: Spain's most oceanic delicacy and its most complex sparkling wine — the barnacle's intense brine and iodine character is one of the few ingredients that matches Gramona's autolytic mineral depth; the wine's chalk mineral mirrors the Atlantic mineral