Peso da Régua, Portugal, Sept. 2, 2026 (Lusa) - Around 300 kilograms of grapes were dumped on Wednesday outside the headquarters of the Douro and Porto Wine Institute (IVDP) in Régua, in northern Portugal, in a symbolic protest to draw attention to the difficulties in selling the harvest this year.
The information was provided to the Lusa news agency by Joaquim Monteiro, from the ‘Lutar pelo Douro' [fight for the Douro] Association, who explained that some winegrowers had decided to dump the grapes outside the IVDP's headquarters in order to draw attention to the «growing difficulties» being felt in the world's oldest demarcated and regulated wine region, the Douro.
«Nobody wants to buy grapes, there's no set price, we don't know what we'll be paid, a lot of grapes will be left on the vines – in short, things are in a very bad state,» said the winegrower from Ervedosa do Douro, in São João da Pesqueira.
At a time when the harvest is in full swing in this region, he explained that there are many winegrowers who still do not know to whom they can sell their grapes.
Some have only secured sales for their ‘benefício' – that is, the quantity of must each producer can allocate to Port wine production – and do not know what to do with the rest of their harvest.
But, according to Joaquim Monteiro, this year there are also companies that are not even buying the grapes set aside for ‘benefício'.
«There are those who want neither the ‘benefício' nor the Douro Controlled Designation of Origin (DOC). The problem in the Douro is getting worse year after year,» he emphasised.
In his case, he expects a harvest of 30 barrels of wine (550 litres each) and, so far, has only secured sales of the grapes destined for Port wine.
Today's symbolic initiative aimed to draw the attention of the IVDP and the Government in particular, and to call for urgent measures.
One such measure, according to Joaquim Monteiro, is the provision of grapes for distillation, under different arrangements to those applied during last year's harvest, emphasising that the support would be allocated directly to the winegrower.
On 17 July, Parliament approved the recommendation by the Juntos Pelo Povo (JPP) party to introduce the «grapes for distillation 2026» measure, to assist winegrowers in the Douro Demarcated Region during this harvest and to make use of surplus grapes.
The resolution – which has no force of law and constitutes a recommendation to the government – was approved with votes in favour from the PSD, Chega, PS, Livre, PCP, CDS-PP, BE, PAN and JPP, and an abstention from the IL.
The measure was first implemented by the Government during the 2025 harvest, providing support of €0.50 per kilogramme of grapes to winegrowers who supplied grapes for the production of wine intended for distillation.
The JPP's proposal seeks to reinstate this measure for the 2026 harvest, in the form of a repayable subsidy, aimed at enhancing wine surpluses from the region and protecting winegrowers' incomes.
The party, which has a single MP, pointed out at the time that Bill No. 236/XVII/1st is currently under parliamentary consideration; it advocates the exclusive use of wine spirit originating from and produced in the Douro Demarcated Region in the production of Port and muscatel wines.
Joaquim Monteiro noted that Douro winegrowers «feel they have been abandoned» and highlighted two problems in the region: «We don't have a surplus of grapes; we have a surplus of wine. We have wine circulating illegally throughout the region which is then sold as Douro».
He then added that production costs «are extremely high».
However, he noted that in this region, most farmers «will only give up entirely when they really have no money left».
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Lusa
