Valencia wine grape growers face falling returns as European market stalls
Valencian grape growers face slower trading, carryover wine stocks and weakening farm margins across red, white and cava varieties. AVA-ASAJA is seeking vineyard removal aid, crisis distillation and stronger EU support to reduce the surplus.
Trading slowdown leaves stocks in wineries
Wine grape growers in Spain’s Valencia region are facing a commercial standstill that is delaying transactions, extending the accumulation of wine from the previous harvest and reducing farm profitability. The Valencian Farmers’ Association, AVA-ASAJA, issued the warning on 21 July, describing the difficulty of selling wine in Europe as unprecedented for the region’s wineries.
According to AVA-ASAJA, the pressure reflects disruption to trade flows caused by the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, tariffs imposed by Donald Trump and a large influx of imports from third countries. The association argues that imported products compete unfairly because they are not subject to the same food safety and sustainability standards imposed on European wine. Valencian wineries are also competing with cheaper imported wine and, the association says, French supply offered below production costs in Spain.
Red, white and cava grapes lose profitability
Weak farmgate conditions are affecting grapes intended for red wine most heavily. AVA-ASAJA links this pressure to changes in consumer preferences during recent years. However, the deterioration is not limited to reds: profitability is also falling for white-wine grapes and for grapes destined for cava in the municipality of Requena.
AVA-ASAJA said large wineries offered Requena cava-grape producers prices during the latest harvest equivalent to half the previous year’s level. Wineries attributed the reduction to an expected recovery in the Catalan harvest. The association disputes that explanation, saying the recovery did not occur because fungal diseases damaged production.
The dispute illustrates how accumulated stocks and weak sales are transmitting pressure back through the supply chain. When wineries have unsold wine from the previous campaign, their demand for new grapes and their willingness to pay growers decline. Competition from low-priced European and non-European wine adds to that pressure, while different trends across red, white and sparkling wine complicate attempts to balance production with consumption.
Growers seek crisis distillation and vineyard removal
AVA-ASAJA is asking public authorities to revive consumption, bring supply and demand closer into balance and restore agricultural margins. Its proposals include applying the Wine Package approved by European authorities and providing public aid for vineyard removal. The latter measure would reduce excess production, although the association wants growers to retain the option of replanting the affected land after a specified period if market conditions improve.
The organization also wants the wine budget under the Common Agricultural Policy to be maintained or increased, giving European growers a comparable level of assistance rather than making support depend solely on each member state’s budget choices. It is calling on Spain’s government to make a financial effort comparable to France’s. Finally, AVA-ASAJA is seeking adequately funded crisis distillation to remove part of the surplus and reduce winery stocks, alongside promotion and wine-tourism measures intended to stimulate consumption and develop new markets for Spanish wine.
