Vila Real, Portugal, Oct. 7, 2026 (Lusa) - In the Douro region, in northern Portugal, some winegrowers are applying for the exceptional support launched by the Government for those who have been unable to sell their produce, whilst others have refused to leave grapes on the vines and have opted to sell with no fixed a price or make their own wine at home.

«Winegrowers are increasingly demotivated, demoralised and financially strained; the profitability of their business is steadily declining and, therefore, the situation may well be worse than one might think,» Marinete Alves, a winegrower and chair of the Lutar pelo Douro Association, established in March 2025, told the Lusa news agency on Wednesday.

The Douro, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, will celebrate 25 years since its designation in 2026 – a year marked by a worsening of the crisis affecting winegrowers in the world's oldest demarcated and regulated wine region.

On 4 September, the Government approved the creation of an emergency fund, with a total allocation of €12 million, to guarantee a minimum income for Douro winegrowers who, due to market difficulties, were unable to sell all their grapes during the 2026–2027 harvest.

Applications opened on 28 September and can be submitted until next Monday exclusively online, via the website of the Douro and Port Wine Institute (IVDP).

Marinete Alves has vineyards in the district of Peso da Régua; she sold the processed grapes but was unable to sell her entire harvest and will therefore apply for the Government's scheme.

She said that «any measures that benefit winegrowers are welcome», but considered that this year's scheme «is indeed too late».

«We began the harvest in early August and the scheme was announced in September; in other words, people began to despair because they didn't know who to sell their grapes to, how much to sell them for, and whether or not there would be state support,» she said.

Last year, the Government opted for another measure, the «grapes for distillation» scheme, whereby surplus grapes with no market were destined for distillation; this was also announced whilst the harvest was already underway.

For Marinete Alves, the late announcement of support for this year's harvest has caused «terrible uncertainty», and the «practical impact» may be limited and «fall short» of expectations. As of last Monday, according to information gathered by Ms Alves, 211 applications had been submitted by winegrowers.

Producers' difficulties intensified in 2024 and, after overall production in the Douro fell to 178,000 barrels of wine (550 litres each) last year, marketing problems worsened again in 2026 with the increase in the harvest.

«Never before have so many vats been sold in the region as in 2024. This year, many people continued to adopt the same method as in 2024 and, therefore, rather than leaving the grapes on the vines, they produced their own wine; others sold the grapes at no price or even below cost price,» she summarised.

Milton Helena, a winegrower in São João da Pesqueira, has already submitted his application for exceptional support. The process requires photographs of the unharvested plot to be submitted via an Android device.

He said that, for him, it was not a difficult process, but he highlighted the difficulties being experienced, particularly by older growers.

The decision to leave the grapes on the vines, he emphasised, was not an easy one to make, but, as he explained, the alternative would be to hand over «the grapes for nothing».

In other words, he would have had to harvest without any guarantee of the price he would be paid for the crop, which might «not even cover the costs of picking the grapes».

And the harvest, he stressed, is merely the culmination of a whole year's work in the vineyard.

He also highlighted the sharp rise in production costs resulting from fuel prices.

The winegrower produces his own wine and also sells grapes, but, as he emphasised, selling them is becoming increasingly difficult.

«We just want a fair price for what we produce and for the quality we produce,» he stressed.

Last year he also made use of the «grapes for distillation» scheme, which, in his view, made «more sense» because it provided a use for the surplus harvest, namely its conversion into brandy.

In addition to the «late announcement» of the support this year, there was also, as he explained, a change to the rules even before they came into force, with an amendment to the ministerial order.

«They end up changing the rules halfway through the game (…). They said it was support per hectare and, as it turns out, it isn't per hectare after all, but per holding,» he noted.

The calculation is now based on the holding and the average production over the last five years.

On 7 August, José Ventura took part in a protest in Régua, wearing a rope round his neck to draw attention to the stranglehold on small and medium-sized winegrowers in the Douro.

At the time, he told Lusa that he had received a letter from the company to which he sells his grapes, warning that it would only accept the benefício, the traditional regulation system, which defines the quantity of grapes from each vineyard that can be used for the production of Port wine.

When contacted again, he confirmed that he had only managed to sell the benefício grapes and that, so as not to leave the rest «hanging on the vines» across around one and a half hectares of vineyard, he had opted to make wine at home – though he does not know whether he will be able to sell it either.

Even though the decree on exceptional support had already been published, the producer from the district of Armamar said he had decided to take a risk.

«They're offering a pittance to get us to leave the grapes on the vines,» he remarked, pointing out that small and medium-sized farmers do not factor in the work they do throughout the whole year, including on Saturdays and Sundays, and that it is becoming increasingly expensive to produce, whilst, in contrast, their income is steadily decreasing.

In his view, the gradual production of regional grape brandy (to be blended into Port wine) from surplus grapes could «effectively» help winegrowers, emphasising that «it is impossible to put into words» how a producer feels about leaving the grapes unharvested after a whole year of work and care.

PLI/AYLS // AYLS

Lusa