Peso da Régua, Portugal, Aug. 7, 2026 (Lusa) - Douro winegrowers are demonstrating in Peso da Régua on Friday to seek immediate measures, such as grapes for distillation, at a time when the grape harvest is getting underway, and there is growing interest in the disposal of the harvest.
Douro winegrowers gathered this morning outside the headquarters of the Douro and Porto Wine Institute (IVDP) in the district of Vila Real.
Some are holding large banners, whilst others are displaying small placards bearing messages such as «Douro winegrowers in struggle: fair prices, contracts, sell the entire harvest», «Only Douro wine», «The Douro Demarcated Region deserves to be treated with dignity», «The Douro can only be a World Heritage Site if its winegrowers live with dignity», «New policies are urgently needed to defend small and medium-sized producers in the Douro» and «The Douro is not for sale».
In a year in which production in the region is forecast to rise by around 25%, and with some estates already harvesting the earliest grapes, small and medium-sized producers are voicing growing concerns about the sale of their grapes.
«Some winegrowers are reporting difficulty finding buyers for their grapes, whether for Port or table wine. This protest is therefore entirely justified,» said Vítor Herdeiro, president of the Association of Winegrowers and Family Farmers of the Douro (Avadouriense).
He emphasised that «some winegrowers are receiving letters indicating that buyers currently have limited interest in their grapes for Port», a situation that has recurred for three harvest seasons and is becoming more widespread this year due to increased production.
«The only difference between this year and last year is that these letters arrived a little later, but they did eventually arrive, which only goes to show that we need to chart a different course here so that we can add value to the production – not only by paying winegrowers a fair price, but also by using this raw material to produce a regional product,» said Vítor Rodrigues, a director of the National Confederation of Agriculture (CNA).
To help producers, Vítor Rodrigues called for the implementation of the ‘grapes for distillation' measure, in line with a recommendation to the government, which lacks the force of law, approved by parliament in July.
The government first implemented the ‘grapes for distillation' measure during the 2025 harvest, establishing a subsidy of €0.50 per kilo of grapes that winegrowers supplied for the production of wine for distillation.
PLI/ADB // ADB.
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