A toast, in Spain, is practically always drunk with cava, the Spanish sparkling wine made by the champagne method. This is especially true when the New Year is brought in with the twelve grapes swallowed with the chimes of the clock in the Puerta del Sol.

Cava, made by the Champagne method, is a very acceptable alternative to French champagne and, it should be said, much better value for money. Almost all cava is produced in Catalonia, especially the Penedés region, although eight different provinces are included in the production area.

Literary references show that wine with a certain amount of effervescence has been made in Catalonia since at least the fourteenth century. But it was not until the 1850s that serious attempts began to produce a wine with the same characteristics as champagne and production did not begin until the 1870s. Since then, cava has become tremendously popular and vast amounts, over two hundred million bottles, are now made for both domestic consumption and export. The best-known makes, Codorniu and Freixenet, have been involved in a full-scale trade war for years.

Cava is not the only sparkling wine made in Spain and sometimes consumers are fooled into accepting something inferior. You can distinguish cava by the cork, which should be marked with a four-pointed star.

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