Reserva Cava and the economic crisis: an absurd linkage

In a move touted by is president as a response to the current economic crisis, the Regulatory Council of the D.O. Cava has announced the standardization of rules for longer aged categories of "Reserva" and "Gran Reserva". In order to qualify for these designations, cava will have to be aged in the bottle following the secondary fermentation for a minimum of 15 months for Reserva (the minimum aging for any cava is 9 months) and 30 months for Gran Reserva and be vintage labeled (show the year of harvest). The longer aging creates more complexity of flavor and aromas and smaller, more persistent bubbles. The overall intent is to answer a perceived quality gap with Champagne which has historically used vintage dating and longer aging for its more prestigious brands.

But are consumers on tighter budgets, fearing the loss of their jobs and houses going to rejoyce over this new Cava regulation? No way. A real response to the crisis would be to, for example, offer a price discount based on the percentage that someone's variable rate mortage has increased. If the Euribor goes up by .25%, then bring your mortage deed to the wineshop and they'll drop the price of Cava X by that much. A move that will in fact lead to a higher priced product is not a response to economic difficulties and saying so is just abusing a buzzword.