This week’s Wine Wednesday looks towards one of my go-to wine and sparkling wine brands, Freixenet. Although Freixenet is most well-known for its range of sparkling wines, it’s their still wine offering that I’m focusing in on for the latest bottle in Wine Wednesday – specifically their Italian Rosé. Discover what this new range has to offer.
Freixenet: A Brief History
Dating way back to 1861, Freixenet started as a family business (founded by Francesc Sala Ferrés) that made and exported wine to America. In 1911 heiress to the Sala wine business, Dolores Sala Vivé, took her incredible knowledge of winemaking and combined it with the vision and entrepreneurial skills of her husband, Pedro Ferrer to develop their original idea of still wine and start to produce traditional Cava.
With their new concept in mind, it was time to think of the name for the brand. Wanting to create a personal and ‘close to home’ brand they chose to base the name on Pedro’s home, which was a vineyard named La Freixeneda. Pedro was actually nicknamed ‘el freixenet’ which was how the brand name came about.
Freixenet: A Brief History 1930s and ’40s
In the 1930s, Pedro and Dolores opened their first office in New Jersey before sadly Pedro and their eldest son lost their lives in the Spanish Civil War. This left Dolores and their three daughters to run the company. Before her retirement in 1957, Dolores introduced the iconic white frosted bottle of ‘Carta Nevada’ in 1941. Her son, Josep Ferrer, then took over the company’s responsibility.
Freixenet: A Brief History 1970s to Current Day
During his time as the company head, Josep was the key to bringing Freixenet to the world. He worked to improve the quality of their wines and in the 1970s he launched the incredibly sleek Cordon Negro cava. Which came in an iconic black frosted bottle. By the 1980s, thanks to Josep and his sons and nephews, Freixenet was the world leader of sparkling wines that were made using the ‘Traditional Method’.
The company is now run by the fifth generation of the family and sells its sparkling cava’s in over 100 countries! Each cava is made at their winery in Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, Spain but they also make wine in 16 other wine regions across the world.
The New Freixenet Still Wine Range
As a Freixenet Italian Sparkling Rosé super fan myself (honestly that’s an understatement, I am obsessed with that stuff) when I found out that they were releasing a whole range of still wines I was absolutely hyped. The range itself has three new wines within it, a chianti, a pinot grigio and a rosé. Looking through the three of them there was definitely one that really caught my eye, and that was the still Italian rosé.
Bottled in their classic cut-glass bottle, the new still range has all the glamour and luxury of their sparkling rosé and prosecco bottles. However, rather than the classic curved champagne bottle shape of their sparkling wines, the new still range takes on a more streamlined shape. Each bottle is 75cl and corked with 100% recyclable corks (bonus points for that!). They’re just so unique on the shelf, aren’t they?
Freixenet Italian Rosé: Wine Wednesday
As for the still Italian rosé itself…what does it taste like? Well, it’s super delicate and fruity, just like its sparkling alternative. Considering it’s a light wine I find it to be full of fruity flavour as well. In terms of the fruit, I was getting mostly strawberries but they also mention other fruits like cherries under their tasting notes on the website.
Food-wise, Freixenet recommends pairing it alongside spicy food or as an aperitif. Personally, rosé is something that I like to drink in the afternoon rather than with or before a meal. But I can completely see why they’d pair it with a spicy meal. The fruitiness of it would be really refreshing against the spice. If you’re a fan of the sparkling Italian rosé then you’ll definitely be a fan of this one. Just pop it in the fridge to chill and crack it open on a *hopefully* sunny afternoon for maximum enjoyment. Cheers!
Have you tried any of Freixenet’s wines before? What are your favourites? Does the new still Italian rosé sound like your type of wine? Let me know in the comments.
Female Original
Liked this? Then you’ll LOVE this one: Cocktail Hour, Gin Fizz.
I can’t get over how pretty this bottle is! It’s so stunning!
I’m not a huge fan of wine but I’ll have a glass of rose after I’ve had a few spirits perhaps haha!
Love Lozza x
http://girlygabble.com
It’s so stunning isn’t it! 🙂
I’m a big rose fan also haven’t tried this one yet!
It’s such a great rosé – would definitely recommend giving it a go 🙂
I love a rosé and the Freixenet bottles are gorgeous aren’t they. Going to have to try this.
They’re stunning! It’s such a lovely rosé, I hope you enjoy it 🙂
Well, I’m immediately intrigued just from how stunning and elegant that wine bottle is! Such a beautiful design. I also happen to love a good rosé, so you’ve caught my attention all the way around. I’ll be searching for this wine soon!
It’s the most gorgeous bottle design isn’t it!? Their sparkling Italian rosé is amazing as well so I’d definitely recommend trying both if you can get your hands on them 🙂
Hi Faye. Great write-up – you are clearly a rose connoisseur! I don’t think that I have ever bought a bottle of rose – always picking red or white depending on the circumstances. Given your comments, I’m not sure that will change any time soon – I’m not a fan of spicy food either 🙂
Haha thanks! Rosé is one of those drinks that I never actually have alongside food, I’ll usually just have it mid-afternoon by itself. I love a good white/red wine with food though! 🙂
Oooo I love their sparkling rose so I’m very excited to see this, I need to try some soon! I agree with you about rose too, it’s never something I like with food x
Sophie
The sparkling rosé is one of my favourite drinks! You’ll definitely like the still rosé if you’re a fan of the sparkling x
Ooooh that looks so nice! I definitely need to try rhis one! I think I’ve had the sparkling version and that was good 🙂
It’s such a lovely rosé. If you liked the sparkling rosé then the still will be right up your street 🙂
I love a sparking rosé so I feel like I’ll love this! I also really want to start watching Good Girls so maybe I’ll follow in your footsteps and enjoy a glass of this whilst watching that! Thanks for sharing x
The sparkling rosé and the still rosé are super similar in taste in my opinion so if you like one then you’ll like the other! I’ve just finished Good Girls and would definitely recommend it 🙂
I absolutely love this bottle – so classy! I do enjoy a rose as an aperitif on a warm day sitting on a patio! I will definitely look for this! On a side note, I wonder why in Canada wine is measured in ml and in cl in Europe and the UK given that they are both metric and equate to the same measure? Our bottles in Canada are generally 750 ml.
I have no clue why it’s in cl here to be honest, I’ve alway thought it was strange. It’s such a glam bottle isn’t it haha! Hopefully you can find yourself a bottle to try 🙂
That is the most beautiful bottle I have ever seen, and I love the way you describe the flavor of the rose’, as well as share a little behind the people who make it. I love that this wine is delicate and feel like it would go well with a cheeseboard.
Thanks for sharing!
All of the Freixenet bottles are so pretty! So glad you’re enjoying the series, it’s a lot of fun for me learning a bit about each company 🙂
Oooh! I haven’t had Italian Rose before but love rose in general hehe. Wow, Freixenet has such a history!! Pretty cool that this has been a family company and running by the 5th generation! I really need to give this brand a try. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on it!
Nancy ✨
It was a lot of fun learning a bit about a brand that I’ve loved for so long! Their rosés are incredible 🙂
This rosé sounds delicious, I have not seen it within the supermarkets as yet but will keep an eye out gor it. I do enjoy the Freixenet cava which is refreshing and brut. Recently, I have discovered the alcohol free wines that Freixenet produce which are still packaged in the same shape of bottle as the prosecco and are sparkling and fruity.
I tried a few of the alcohol free Freixenet’s last Christmas and I was so impressed! The flavours were so similar to the alcoholic versions. Hopefully you’ll get a chance to try the new rosé soon 🙂
I don’t drink wine personally but it was very interesting reading about the history of how this brand came about and that it’s a great example of a successful family business. Really loved it!
I loved learning more about the brand itself. I’ve been a huge fan of their sparkling rosé for years but had never done much in depth research into their brand until this post. Glad you enjoyed reading 🙂
That bottle has the most gorgeous design, I know my aunt would love this too!
Love, Amie ❤
The Curvaceous Vegan
Doesn’t it just! The wine is just as gorgeous too 🙂
I love rose and the bottle this rose comes in is so pretty, I wouldn’t want to drink it! x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
Haha I know what you mean! It’s such a lovely bottle but the wine is definitely worth cracking it open for 🙂
It sounds like a lovely rose wine, and that bottle is absolutely stunning! I feel it’d make an excellent weekend treat.
Cora | https://www.teapartyprincess.co.uk/
It’s a stunning bottle isn’t it! 🙂
I loved this post. Whenever I pick up a bottle of wine I’ve never considered the history or story behind the brand but this was really interesting to read and I thoroughly enjoyed it for sure. I think I will also enjoy this wine too as I’m quite fond of rose especially if it has a sparkling element.
Both the sparkling and the still rosés are so lovely. I’d recommend either! So glad you enjoyed reading, it was a lot of fun to learn a little about their history 🙂
I adore Freixenet and I never need any excuse to drink a good rosé so I’ll be putting this on our shopping list this week. I also like the sound of the sparkling rosé so maybe that will be two bottles in the basket 🙂
Both are amazing! I still need to try the others in the range but if the rosés are anything to go by I’m sure they’re incredible 🙂
I was hooked by wine wednesday! What an awesome concept. Goes well with cocktail Thursday through Monday. Funny and interesting. Thanks.
Haha glad you like it! Cocktail Thursday – Monday is a vibe I can 100% get behind
Sprakling rose is on top…my favorite. I haven’t tried this one.
http://www.fashionradi.com
Both the sparkling and still Freixenet rosés are gorgeous! I’d 100% recommend 🙂
I like how rose wines have the crispness of the white with a little of the same fruity richness from the red wine. Nice review! I definitely need to try this.
xoxo
Lovely
http://www.mynameislovely.com
Agreed! Thanks so much 🙂
I love their other sparkling wines but never tried the Rose’s, going to be next on my list for sure! Thanks for sharing X
The sparkling wines are so good aren’t they?! The rosé is just as amazing – hope you enjoy trying it 🙂