The Durienses fear a third consecutive vintage with difficulties to drain their grapes or their sale at low prices, with some already received letters canceling grape orders for this year.
Douro winemakers manifest themselves on Wednesday, in the weight of the ruler, to warn of the crisis that affects the region, demand solutions to the government and the flow and sale of grapes at fair prices.
Promoted by (CNA) and the Association of Viticulture and Family Farming Dooriense Protest aims to demand measures to mitigate the crisis that Douro faces.
“The situation that lives in the region is worrying and, or something is done by the small and medium producer, or we will, in the short term, see part of the region left to abandon,” Lusa Berta Santos, CNA leader, told.
The appeal is for the “in force” participation in the protest to draw the government’s attention, and one of the claim is at least the maintenance of the benefit in the vintage of 2025 instead of a cut as it is defended by tradewhich complains of breaks in sales and full stocks.
The benefit, which is the amount of must that each producer can allocate to the production of port wine, was 90,000 kites (550 liters each) by 2024 and 104,000 by 2023.
“We do not accept cuts because the benefit is what makes the small and medium producer survive in this region. We want better prices for grapes, because production costs are huge,” Berta Santos also listed.
With this manifestation it is intended to claim the flow and fair prices for grapes, the ban on the purchase of grapes below production costs, a priority to regional brandy in the production of port wine, more supervision in the entry of must and wines from outside the region and the state of surdentary stocks of cooperative cellars and attribution to the “legal and operational” capacity for stabilization. Stocks.
The demonstration begins at 10:00 next to the Peso da Régua station, in the southern district of Vila Real, with protesters running the avenue to the roundabout Doctor João Araújo Correia.
