Wilting on the vine

Spain's winemakers seek new infusion of blood to save sector

- Sam Jones

The huge concrete vats that have held countless litres of verdejo white wine in the 90 years since the Cuatro Rayas cooperative winery was founded are dwarfed by the stainless steels tanks that sit opposite and serve as reminders that, even in an enterprise as ancient as winemaking, times change.

Outside, a chilly but welcome rain falls on the surrounding vines, which are autumn-brown and crying out for water after another furnace-hot summer in the northern Spanish province of Valladolid.

But changing technologies and the vagaries of the climate emergency are not the only challenges facing Spain’s €22.4bn (£20bn) wine industry.

According to a recent report, the sector must recruit 22,600 younger workers over the coming years as the current generations of growers reach - and exceed - retirement age. The report, commissioned by the Spanish Wine Interprofessional Organisation (OIVE), found that 38.9% of winegrowers are aged 51-65 and 35% are over 65. Those aged 41-50 make up 16.9% of the sector, while the under-40s comprise only 9.3%.

The organisation’s president, Fernando Ezquerro, is blunt in his assessment. “If we don’t get that generational replacement, then the sector will obviously wilt,” he says. “If you don’t have grapes, you don’t have wine.”

Winemakers over the border in France have also sounded the alarm, for different reasons, warning that an unpalatable blend of Donald Trump’s tariffs, falling sales and some of the worst harvests in 70 years is pushing producers to breaking point.