Who Wouldn’t Want to Be the Baby?

In Spain, cava (Spanish sparkling wine made by the Champagne method) is most definitely a middle class drink. No fancy occasions needed. Barcelona alone has dozens of xampanyeria, wine bars specializing in cava. In fact, on Saturdays, it’s a Catalonian family tradition to drive to Sant Sadurní (the leading cava town) for a picnic of cava and grilled lamb. Wineries (bodegas in Spanish) sell locally raised lamb and rent outdoor stone fireplaces. Then there’s what happens on Sundays. At a baptism everyone drinks cava, even the baby, whose pacifier is dipped in the bubbly. Not to be left out (cava is a wine for everyone after all) and possibly more important, as a way of keeping them quiet in church, other babies may be given the same treat.