Freixenet () is a Spanish producer of cava and other sparkling and still wines, founded in 1914 in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, in the

province of Barcelona Barcelona (; ) is a province of eastern Spain, in the center of the autonomous community of Catalonia. The province is bordered by the provinces of Tarragona, Lleida, and Girona, and by the Mediterranean Sea. Its area is .traditional method sparkling wine worldwide, and the largest exporter of Cava. It is chaired, as of November 2021, by Alfred Oetker, and completing the Board of Directors are Pedro Ferrer, José María Ferrer, Carl Ferdinand Oetker and Andreas Brokemper. Fachada Cavas Freixenet

History

The company was founded after the union of two families specialized in the wine market: the Ferrer family, owners of La Freixeneda since the 12th century, and the Sala family, founders of Casa Sala (1861). When Pedro Ferrer Bosch married Dolores Sala Vivé, the foundations of the company were laid. When Spanish wine production fell at the end of the 19th century, many companies became interested in the production of cava, beginning to bottle sparkling wines. Pedro and Dolores started bottling cava under the Freixenet brand from 1914 onwards. During the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

the family lost the company, but recovered it again at the end of the war thanks to the drive of Dolores Sala and her daughter. In 1941 they managed to launch their best-selling product, the "Carta Nevada" cava. Under the control of José Ferrer, at the end of the 1950s Freixenet managed to improve the company's commercial trajectory until it became one of the main companies dedicated to cava. In 1974 Freixenet launched "Cordon Negro". Since the 1970s Freixenet began its expansion into international markets and in 1985 became the world leader in the cava market. In the following decades Freixenet launches more modern and innovative products such as cava Elyssia in 2009, cava to drink on ice Freixenet ICE in 2016, Freixenet Prosecco DOC in 2017 or Freixenet Still Wines in 2021. In 2018, the German group Henkell & Co. acquired 50% of Freixenet. In 2019, the Spanish-German alliance was renamed Henkell Freixenet, creating the world's leading sparkling wine group. In April 2024 the management communicated the intention to temporarily lay off more than 600 employees, as the amount of base wine for cava production has declined significantly due to the drought that has persisted for three vintages.

Marketing

This Cava company taps into a world-famous celebrity to be the face of its much-awaited Christmas TV commercial. Celebrities who have appeared in Freixenet's Christmas sparkling wine include

Liza Minnelli Liza May Minnelli ( ; born March 12, 1946) is an American actress, singer, and dancer. Known for her commanding stage presence and powerful alto singing voice, Minnelli has received numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, ...

(1977), Raquel Welch (1985),

Paul Newman Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, race car driver, philanthropist, and activist. He was the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Paul Newman, numerous awards ...

(1989),

Antonio Banderas José Antonio Domínguez Bandera (born 10 August 1960), known professionally as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish actor. Known for his work in films of several genres, he has received numerous accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival Award ...

and

Sharon Stone Sharon Vonne Stone (born March 10, 1958) is an American actress and film producer. Known for primarily playing femmes fatales and women of mystery on film and television, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1990s. She is the ...

(1992), Kim Basinger (1993), Penélope Cruz (1994 and 2001),

Alejandro Sanz Alejandro Sánchez Pizarro, better known as Alejandro Sanz (; born 18 December 1968), is a Spanish musician, singer and composer. He has won 22 Latin Grammy Awards and four Grammy Awards. He has received the Latin Grammy for Latin Grammy Award ...

(1998),

Pierce Brosnan Pierce Brendan Brosnan (born 16 May 1953) is an Irish actor and film producer. He was the fifth actor to play the fictional secret agent Portrayal of James Bond in film, James Bond in the List of James Bond films, James Bond film series, starri ...

(2004),

Demi Moore Demi Gene Moore ( ; née Guynes; born November 11, 1962) is an American actress. After rising to prominence in the early 1980s, she became the world's highest-paid actress by 1995. List of awards and nominations received by Demi Moore, Her acc ...

(2005) and

Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977) is a Colombian singer-songwriter. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Latin Music", she has had a Cultural impact of Shakira, significant impact on the ...

(2010). In 2018 Freixenet stopped having famous people in its commercials an
changed its advertising strategy
with the aim of deseasonalizing the consumption of cava and consolidating the international positioning of the brand focused on the celebration of life's small and big moments, as well as maximizing the Mediterranean lifestyle through a global campaign. Freixenet is the main sponsor of the

roller hockey (quad) Roller hockey (in British English), rink hockey (in American English) or ball roller hockey is a team sport played on roller skates. It is a quad-skate team sport where two teams face-off against one another, trying to drive a hard ball with t ...

team, Club Esportiu Noia, that usually competes in the main Spanish league and also European Competitions: CERH European League and CERS Cup. Due to this sponsorship agreement the name of the team is CE NOIA Freixenet. Freixenet is also the official cava of the MotoGP World Championship since 2003.

References

External links

Freixenet official site
{{Coord, 41, 25, 13, N, 1, 47, 32, E, region:ES-CT_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title 1914 establishments in Spain Companies based in Catalonia Spanish brands Sparkling wines Wineries of Spain Dr. Oetker

History

Marketing

See also

References

External links