Italy vs Spain

It wasn't meant to be an international competition, but there you go.

Friday was supposed to be my day off. My one day to hang out and relax, head to Borough Market for a quick shop, eat something nice for lunch, and then sip something sparkling in the afternoon - just because I could. The day before, I found a bottle of prosecco for just under £10 at one of my locals from the Istituto Enologico Italiano, so I was all ready.

Except the prosecco was horrible. Not a dud, like my recent bottle of champagne, but actually nasty, awful, pure-alcohol-tasting, almost-flat wine. It was so bad, I poured it down the sink - not even worthy to use for cooking.

My husband is a star, though. Sensing my disappointment when I met him at the train station later that day, he stopped at another of our locals and picked out a bottle of cava from Codorniu - also for less than £10. This was their Reserva Raventos, a blend of chardonnay, macabeo, and xarello that they released for their 125th anniversary in 1997.

We drank it on Sunday with melt-in-your-mouth roasted pork belly that my husband cooked. The cava was spectacular, and totally made up for my disappointment on Friday. The wine tasted like fresh-baked-bread and had more than enough bubbles for my super-sparkling preference. Had I tasted it blind, I would have thought it was champagne, and a more expensive one, at that.

I often overlook cavas when I'm out looking for bubbles, mostly because I have this preconceived (and incorrect) notion that they tend to be sweet. I've had a lot of very nice cavas, though, and will have to keep them higher up on my shopping list from now on.