Tag Archives: Freixenet

TV wine ads: I’m Brosnan, Pierce Brosnan

This Spanish Cava ad tries to poke fun at itself, but doesn’t quite pull it off.

There’s a delicious irony about this commercial, which otherwise seems to be just another of the “Oh, it’s a TV wine ad for the WC to criticize” variety. I’m told I missed a chance to meet Pierce Brosnan at the commercial’s media event in Florida.

Who knew?

The ad, which ran on Spanish and European television, was part of a Christmas tradition for the old Freixenet, the Spanish producer of what used to be top-notch inexpensive Cava (but which has since been consolidated and no longer makes top-notch inexpensive Cava). Dallas’ Janet Kafka, one of wine’s legendary marketers, worked with Freixenet back then. When I asked her for details about the ads, she emailed me: “But we used to do a launch party here, even though the ads weren’t shown in the U.S. And yes, Pierce Brosnan starred in one and we had a big party! I think you were there, no?”

No, but that’s OK. I probably would have let slip that I wasn’t overwhelmed by Brosnan’s James Bond, embarrassing both Janet and myself.

To the ad: More of the same. To its credit, it tries to inject humor into advertising that usually doesn’t have any, and even pokes fun at itself – both for wine and Bond. But it’s just not funny.

Ad courtesy of KuFeL78, via YouTube

Freixenet sold to German bubbly maker; is this another loss for cheap wine quality?

freixenet sale
I’m not sure I can heart Henkell, the German company that bought Freixenet.

Freixenet sale: Can Germany’s Henkell do justice to quality wine like Segura Viudas, Rene Barbier, and Gloria Ferrer?

Freixenet, the Spanish cava producer whose brands include the $10 Hall of Fame Segura Viudas, the $5 Rene Barbier red and white blends, and the top-notch Gloria Ferrer California sparkling, has sold itself to a German bubbly maker called Henkell. Do the Germans understand what they have? Or, after the Freixenet sale, will they run the company as a cash cow, as often happens in these situations – to make money and not quality wine?

This is not good news for those of us who care about cheap wine. We’ve been battered and bruised over the past couple of years as wine quality has declined and wine prices have increased. Gone are Big House and Osborne’s Solaz; to lose Segura Viudas, which costs about $8 and delivers at least twice that much quality, would be a devastating blow.

A quick caveat: I went to Spain on a Freixenet media trip (and even got a certificate for making the best cava blend in a silly competition with my colleagues) and count several people associated with the company as friends.

The good news is that “Henkell is not a company to be underestimated,” says the blog’s unofficial European correspondent. “This merger makes them one of the biggest sparkling wine players in the world.”

Henkell does business in the U.S. now, mostly through Mionetti Prosecco – a $10 Italian sparkler aimed at the same audience as E&J Gallo’s La Marca. Its U.S. portfolio includes Champagne like the $50 Alfred Gratien. Intriguingly, it has had success with the I Heart brand (complete with a heart on the label) in Britain, where wines like I Heart Merlot and I Heart Rose cost the equivalent of $10.

Having said that, there’s a big difference between selling Champagne, entry-level Prosecco, and cute label wine and the Freixenet products. The latter, and even the Freixenet grocery store cava, always deliver. I buy the Rene Barbier white by the case; at that price, there is very little else that compares in value. And it’s almost embarrassing how many medals Gloria Ferrer wins every year at the Critic’s Challenge competition. I buy that, too, when I need a quality $20 wine.

So hope for the best, and don’t be surprised if that’s not what happens. Which, unfortunately, is the state of cheap wine in the U.S. today.

Winebits 434: Freixenet sale, consolidation, marijuana

Freixenet sale• Say it ain’t so: Freixenet, the Spanish wine giant that makes so much of the cheap wine that I buy and drink regularly, may be sold. This is almost certainly not good news for those of us who drink the Rene Barbier red and white blends, Segura Viudas cava, or the more expensive Gloria Ferrer sparkling wines from California. The German company that wants to buy Freixenet, Henkell & Co., sells very little wine in the U.S.; how interested will it be in continuing to sell those labels if it gets the company? And this doesn’t take into account the concern that any new owner usually screws up the old brands just because — right, Alaska Air? So, if any of the Ferrer family members who own the company read this (and I have met a couple of them over the years): Please, please don’t sell.

• Just more businesspeak: Want to know why so much consolidation is going on in wine? Then read this piece from the Supermarket News trade magazine. The article doesn’t address wine, but the sentiments and buzzwords used in it to talk about grocery store mergers describe what’s happening in wine — and that consolidation has nothing to do with improving products or benefiting consumers. How about “the … narrow approach to defining competition could hinder efforts to make the industry more efficient.” More efficient, of course, means firing employees and cutting costs, not providing a better product.

• Premiumize this: Aspen, Colo., where people who make industries more efficient go skiing, may have shown us the future of wine sales. And it’s not good. The city’s seven legal pot shops outsold city liquor stores in March and April last year. In April 2015, city residents and visitors bought almost $1 million worth of dope, compared to about $860,00 worth of booze. Know that weed has been legal in Aspen for less than two years, which makes that number even more amazing.

Wine of the week: Freixenet Cordon Rosado Brut NV

If most wine drinkers know Freixenet, it’s from the black bottle that they see at the grocery store. And the black bottle is decent enough $9 Spanish sparkling wine, or cava.

Sometimes, though, if you’re lucky enough, you’ll see the black bottle’s cousin, a rose cava called Rosado ($9, purchased). It’s a step up from the black bottle — a little fruitier and a little more polished. In this, it sits between two of my favorite rose cavas, the Cristalino at $7 and the Seguras Viudas at $10.

The wine is made with trepat, a Spanish grape used only for cava, and garnacha, the Spanish version of grenache. Hence some soft red fruit (strawberry?), as well as a little yeastiness and lots of bubbles. In this, it’s an excellent example of how a multi-national producer can turn out a cheap wine with character.

The Rosado will handle New Year’s ably, whether it’s for toasting on Saturday night, for brunch on Sunday morning or for sipping anytime this week. And it’s an excellent food wine; I drank it with oven fried chicken and it was delicious. Highly recommended, and a candidate for the 2013 $10 Hall of Fame.