The serious drought that affects Catalonia and climate change is fully affecting agricultural production and grape production in particular. The harvest of this fruit has decreased so much in the last two years that the sector giant Freixenet has been forced to produce alternative sparkling wines to cava in some of its main international markets. There are no cava DO grapes to supply all the demand, so the historic company from Sant Sadurní d'Anoia has made the decision to look for another type of product for Germany, Switzerland and Austria. German is its main foreign market.
"Climate change and extreme weather conditions are causing a serious drought that has been affecting us since 2021 and especially significantly in 2023 in Catalonia and, above all, in the Penedès region," comments from the company, owned by the Ferrer family and the German Henkell group.
The harvest in the DO Cava for Freixenet has decreased by 45%, they continue, so that it is "impossible" for them to supply these markets. Given this situation, the company claims to have been "forced" to launch a new alternative sparkling wine in these three countries, "as long as there is not enough grape production in the DO Cava."
This new product for the German, Austrian and Swiss markets will be called “Freixenet Premium Sparkling Wine – Cuvée from Spain”, and will be made with Catalan and Spanish grapes (outside the DO Cava) mainly in its UCSA winery, a Freixenet Group company, and located in Sant Sadurní. The group plans to start selling the new sparkling wine in August and its production will depend on market acceptance. It will be produced using the charmat method.
This measure does not affect the rest of the countries in which Freixenet is present, such as Spain. Here, Freixenet cavas will continue to be marketed without changes, protected by the DO Cava, the company emphasizes.
Six years ago, the German group Henkell, owned by a branch of the Oetker family, agreed to buy half of Freixenet, a leader in the cava market. The group had a turnover of 1,181 million euros in 2022, 8.5% more. In 2022, Freixenet sold more than 107 million bottles (including cava, wine, prosecco and other sparkling wines) and equaled the historical record of 2021. Sales by volume remained stagnant, but the brand earned more thanks to the increase in prices resulting from inflation .
