Monção, Portugal, July 4, 2025 (Lusa) - The minister of agriculture has emphasised the need to "adapt supply to demand" for wine, particularly in the Douro, because "we can't always be destroying wine" and "solutions are needed for farmers whose production will be reduced".
"We aim to help the small producer. They can't be the losers. He can't be working to keep warm, he has to see his work valued, he has to have an income. That's why the issue of balancing supply and demand is important," said José Manuel Fernandes, speaking to journalists at the inauguration of the 28th Alvarinho Fair in Monção, in the district of Viana do Castelo.
Speaking on the example of the Douro region, where winemakers demonstrated on Wednesday, the minister acknowledged that it was necessary to "provide support for the substitution" made to reduce Port production.
"In some regions, we have to adapt supply to demand. We then need to provide solutions for farmers who will see their production reduced. In the Douro region, for example," he said.
According to the minister, "we can't keep destroying wine, turning wine into brandy, which is actually alcohol for industrial purposes".
"Between 2020 and 2024, €54 million was spent on distillation, which is taxpayers' money," he criticised.
On the other hand, the demarcated Douro region needs "a series of measures", of which "wine tourism is one", along with "increased promotion, training and skills".
The minister emphasised that "if the country had taken the measures that [the current government] took in 2024, we wouldn't be in this situation".
"We created a line of €100 million for co-operatives to pay their debts to producers, we increased inspection, and we put an end to retentions. But that's not enough. We have to go further in some areas," he said.
Douro winegrowers demonstrated on Wednesday in Peso da Régua, just a few weeks before the harvest is expected to begin, to warn of the growing difficulties and the viability of the demarcated region.
"We want to make the voice of winegrowers and their main demands heard loud and clear, particularly those aimed at resolving the crisis in the Douro Demarcated Region in a structural way, namely the ban on buying grapes below production costs," Vítor Rodrigues, head of the National Confederation of Agriculture (CNA), told Lusa.
According to Rodrigues, the farmers "are also rejecting further cuts in the benefit", i.e. the amount of must that each producer can use to make Port.
Douro growers fear a third consecutive harvest with difficulties in disposing of grapes or selling them at low prices, and some have already received letters cancelling orders for this year's grapes.
To deal with the crisis, the producers advocate measures such as fair prices for grapes, a ban on buying grapes below production costs, prioritising regional brandy in the production of Port, more controls on the entry of musts and wines from outside the region and the purchase by the state of surplus stocks from cooperative wineries.
ACG/ADB // ADB.
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