Lisbon, Sept. 4, 2026 (Lusa) - The Portuguese Government on Friday announced support of around €12 million for winegrowers in the River Douro region who are unable to sell their produce this season.
«We have also taken a measure to support winegrowers in the Douro region – and I will explain shortly why specifically the Douro – which consists of support totalling around €12 million for those who, this season, are unable to sell their grapes,» said the Cabinet office minister, António Leitão Amaro.
At the press conference following today's Cabinet meeting, the minister said that this is a «one-off solution for this year, which differs from the solutions of previous years, which were support measures for distillation».
«This is support for unsold produce, with a maximum amount set at €12 million, but the decision has already been taken that, in future, the solution for the Douro region must be a structural one, based on the creation of a permanent fund designed to help manage these market fluctuations and difficulties,» he added.
As for the reason behind this specific support for the region, Leitão Amaro explained that «the Douro has unique characteristics regarding the landscape in which production takes place, which make it much more difficult to switch to another crop».
«Therefore, the Douro region and its producers face particular difficulties, and this is a measure that differs from those of previous years; whilst it is of significant value, it differs from the support that will be provided in future through the new fund, but it is important for supporting this sector and this region within the sector,» he emphasised.
When asked whether the support covers producers who leave the grapes on the vines without harvesting them, the minister replied that «it includes that option».
«In fact, the idea is not to maintain a system that would take the grapes from the vine to a distillation process, incurring a cost, but which would then result in a distortion caused by an overload on the market – namely the distillation market – which might not actually have that need,» he noted.
He added that, from the Government's perspective, the «previous model had two problems» because «it was generating costs – harvesting, transporting, storing and processing grapes – which the distillation market might not actually need».
Asked to provide further details on how the measure will be implemented and who will be eligible for it, the minister said that it is a support scheme «based on a fixed rate of €0.50 [per kilo of grapes], with eligibility determined on a regional basis».
He referred further details to the decision of the Cabinet and the specific regulations that will subsequently be published.
«This measure – and let us not forget wine producers across the country – is accompanied, as has already been announced by the Minister for Agriculture, by the launch of a €100 million credit line for cooperatives, which are a very important solution at this time,» the minister added in his opening remarks.
In 2025, the Government introduced the grape distillation scheme, establishing a subsidy of €0.50 per kilogramme of grapes for winegrowers who supplied grapes for the production of wine intended for distillation.
After production in the Douro fell last year to 178,000 barrels of wine (550 litres each), problems with the disposal of grapes have worsened again this year.
Some winegrowers complain of having no buyers, others that they are only guaranteed a sale for the ‘benefício' grapes – that is, the quantity of must that each grower can allocate to the production of Port wine – and, in general, they also complain about the low price they are paid for their grapes.
For this harvest, the Interprofessional Council of the Douro and Port Wine Institute (IVDP) unanimously approved a quota of 76,000 barrels, 1,000 more than last year; this represents a commitment made by the parties (trade and production), but does not mean that companies are obliged to sell the grapes.
On the other hand, operators are warning of full stock levels and a slump in wine sales.
On Wednesday, grapes were dumped onto the street in front of the headquarters of the Douro and Port Wine Institute in Peso da Régua (Vila Real), in a symbolic protest intended to draw attention to the crisis affecting small and medium-sized producers in the Douro region.
Today, a call has gone out via social media to mobilise for a peaceful protest in São João da Pesqueira, in the region of Viseu, where Prime Minister Luís Montenegro and the Minister for Agriculture, José Manuel Fernandes, are due to attend the opening of the Vindouro wine fair.
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