We have another excellent example of Cava from Mestres today, this time the Coquet, which is the original sparkling wine of this address. Mestres was the first producer to open our eyes to serious Cava when we tasted it in Spain last year. Mestres, a historic winery in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, Catalonia, has roots dating back to 1312, with cava production beginning in 1925. Pioneers of the category, Mestres was the first producer to bottle sparkling wine and label it as Cava. The vineyards are about thirty minutes outside of Barcelona, and the production here is very small. With little to no exportation, you will typically only find the Mestres Cava in Spain. The winery works with 20 hectares of estate vineyards, primarily planted with indigenous varieties like Macabeo, Xarel·lo, and Parellada. Sparkling production here takes a page right out of Champages book and goes through a secondary fermentation in the bottle, with the Coquet spending an impressive 42 months on the lees before it is disgorged with a low dosage. It's a beautifully balanced introduction to the range of Mestres and a complex, vineyard-driven example from the base vintage of 2019 blended with some old reserve wine. This is grower champagne quality at pricing we rarely see in the category anymore, and it will change any negative pre-conceptions you have about Cava with a single taste. This is highly recommended, and we have some of the only bottles in the USA!