Joan Sala married, in 1883, Carme Vivé. Four children were born from that marriage. The first three boys died prematurely, but the only girl in the family remained, Dolors Sala Vivé (born in 1889). At the end of the 19th century, probably no one would have imagined that a woman would be able to carry out a company like Freixenet. She was always at the foot of the vineyard and demonstrated a radical curiosity for the entire process of quality winemaking. Dolors Sala, as his family remembers, had great talent and technical knowledge of the Sant Sadurní, Subirats and Mediona vineyards, and also of wine. He had studied at the Col·legi del Carme de Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, run by the Carmelites, and later in Barcelona, ??where he studied Business Administration.
Dolors Sala began a courtship with the youngest son of La Freixeneda, an ancient farm in the municipality of Mediona that had been founded in the 13th century and administered for 18 generations. Pere Ferrer Bosch was known as el Freixenet, a name that referred to the property where he was born and the fact that he was the youngest of the line. However, the little one soon became the biggest. Pere Ferrer immediately stood out due to his business drive. Dolors Sala and Pere Ferrer were married in 1911.
Dolors Sala was “a woman ahead of her time, a true intuitive winemaker capable of improving the wines from her estates,” according to Freixenet. Convinced of the accuracy of their forecasts, the married couple of Pere Ferrer and Dolors Sala got ready for what would be the house’s first marketing operation. The name of Freixenet, despite its difficulty to pronounce, was incorporated into the traditional Casa Sala label. The Sant Quintí de Mediona winery gave birth to the first bottles of Freixenet while the engineers and masons were drilling holes in the floor of the old wine warehouse attached to the train track. It is added from Freixenet, that in Dolors Sala “faith is concentrated on the one hand and reason and resistance on the other”. She was always a woman of deep religious beliefs. Until her death, that great little woman kept repeating to her grandchildren and her great-grandchildren that she had managed to reach her long-lived age because at the time of her birth a priest who passed by on her street blessed her. .
The truth is that it became a real blessing for the company. He had not only studied oenology, but had also excelled in his business studies. His wine-growing knowledge made it easy for him to get the best assemblages. That is why she was the first in the Penedès to launch a Brut Reserva cava, with the 1930 vintage. She was a producer with a vision of the future who planned the development of the company in the long term, while running the company with a firm hand and ideas innovative. She always dedicated herself to her parents’ company before her own house,
the majors and the fine print of the contracts, but he had never bothered to make an omelette correctly.
Uncontrolled anarchists ended the life of her husband Pere Ferrer Bosch, and shortly after her father Joan Sala Tubella also disappeared. The cellars had been orphaned and the bubbles were no longer a symbol of joy. When Dolors Sala, after the death of her husband, in the middle of the war and later during the postwar period and very difficult times, had to assume the direction of Freixenet, she had the help and support of her eldest daughter, Pilar Ferrer. Hall. Dolors and Pilar dedicated themselves to keeping alive the memory of her husband and father working in the vineyards and maintaining the quality of their products. At the end of the Civil War, Pilar Ferrer Sala, the daughter of the executed Pere Ferrer and the protoenologist Dolors Sala, married José Luis Bonet Ruiz and left the front line of production. In any case, the couple continued to help Dolors Sala with the company. Her daughter Carmen Ferrer Sala and hers, her husband Enrique Hevia García, also did so later, who supported her and collaborated with her in expanding the business.
His last daughter, Lola (Dolors), did not marry and always lived with her mother in the family home in Freixenet. Dolors Sala stayed there, suggesting blends and maintaining the bouquet of the house. She directed the company and was president of Freixenet until her death on February 21, 1978. A few years earlier, on May 17, 1974, she was named Honorary Winemaker by the Association of Winemakers of Spain, in recognition to its merits. Her son Josep Ferrer Sala, 97, would end up becoming the architect, thanks to his great exporting vision, of making Freixenet the undisputed world leader in cava.
Her children still remember a recurring phrase from Dolors to her husband: “Listen, Pere, if that cava thing goes well for us, one day we could buy a Maison en la Champagne.” In 1985, the Henri Abelé winery, founded in 1757 in Reims, became part of the Freixenet group (it is currently in the hands of the Nicolas Feuillate cooperative group after its sale with Henkell’s entry into Freixenet’s shareholding). Josep Buján, who was technical director of Freixenet, remembers her as “a quiet and reserved woman, but very intuitive”. He also affirms that she “had a great nose, she was a good taster and a great connoisseur of the sector.” He still remembers her tasting sitting on a wicker rocker with cushions while he carried out analytical tests in the Freixenet laboratory.
In memory of Dolors Sala Vivé, her descendants gave her name to the farm and to the cellars installed in Mexico (Finca Doña Dolores and Cavas Sala Vivé respectively), in Ezequiel Montes, Querétaro. Also the Freixenet Cuvée D.S. It bears his initials, a cava that has already reached its 26 vintages on the market since it was released in 1969. Initially it was not marketed. It was only made for the enjoyment of the family that owns it. They have stopped launching on the market up to a total of 28 vintages. Today it is part of Freixenet’s Cuvée de Prestige collection. The Gran Reserva Brut D.S. 2017 is the son of a dry and hot vintage.
Made in the traditional way with the traditional white varieties of Penedès: 60% Xarel·lo, 30% Macabeo and 10% Parellada. The back label ensures that its grapes are selected “from the preferred vineyards of Dolors Sala”. Its second fermentation in the bottle is with a crown stopper. Of this vintage, 41,800 bottles were produced. It has a minimum of 55 months of aging in rhyme. The current director of oenology at Freixenet, Manel Quintana, highlights its production with a collection of its own yeasts selected by Freixenet, as well as the fact that they avoid malolactic fermentation, something that he acknowledges is becoming increasingly difficult for them with climate change. Seek balance with high acidity and low pH.
It shows a straw yellow color with some golden reflections. With a constant detachment of fine bubbles, which draw a perfect rosary and crown in the glass. This vintage exhibits notes reminiscent of aromatic garrigue herbs (fennel and thyme), dried fruits (almonds and walnuts), white fruit and baked apple, and a touch of toasted bread and brioche. It is very fresh thanks to a lively acidity. It has a lot of persistence in the mouth, it is balanced and long despite not being bulky. It also stands out for being quite dry. It only presents 4 grams of sugars per liter. It is, therefore, a Brut that could be Extra Brut. The xarel·lo becomes clearly perceptible. The carbonic is very well integrated. It is a mature cava, although fresh despite its long aging.
It is also very gastronomic. The director of oenology at Freixenet prefers to accompany it with dishes “with body and substance”, such as baked turbot with baked potatoes and onion. Also ideal to harmonize with a pularda or mute duck from Penedès, with Iberian ham or with a fish paella. It has always been the most demanded cava, by far, at the Freixenet stand of the Cavatast in Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, and also one of the best sellers in the store of the workers of these cellars.
Freixenet is a family business founded in 1914 (with roots dating back to 1861) and is headquartered in the Estación neighborhood of Sant Sadurní d’Anoia. It is the largest exporter of sparkling wine in Spain, as well as the world’s largest producer of cava and leader in sales. On December 15, 2021, Freixenet exceeded the figure of 100 million bottles sold in a year worldwide for the first time in history. They export 85% of their production. Its main markets are Germany, the United Kingdom, France, the United States and Spain. In fact, one in five bottles of cava sold in Spain is from the Freixenet brand.
