VIA DE LA PLATA, Extremadura, Spain

Aniceto Mesías produced his first bottle of bub in 1983. Two years later he was popping bottles under the D.O. Cava. So, what’s the big deal? Well, he was doing it far from Sant Sadurní d'Anoia in his native town of Almendralejo, becoming the first producer of Extremadura to form a part of the appellation. Today, three other producers from the region have joined and although Aniceto is no longer in the cellars, his winery Vía de la Plata still remains at the cusp due to his young successor, Luis Miguel Calleja.

After 30 years making quality Cava and with retirement in sight, Aniceto made sure his winery landed in the right hands and maintained its artesenal traditions. It’s safe to say that he can rest at ease. Ever since taking over, Luis Miguel has done exactly that. Tired from his experience working at some of the region’s behemoth coops, he was determined to sacrifice quantity over quality to keep Vía de la Plata amongst Spain’s best bubblies.

Their 200,000 bottles a year are all produced by hand in underground cellars using the traditional champenoise method invented by Dom himself. The grapes are sourced from nearby vineyards of the varieties Macabeo, Parellada and Chardonnay; all of which exhaustively controlled by them.