Valpaços, Vila Real, Portugal, Jan. 6, 2026 (Lusa) - The Portuguese Vine and Wine Institute has said that it is optimistic about the future of the sector, believing that it will be possible to reach the target of €1 billion in exports in 2026.
"I believe that, once we get past this uncertainty in the global market and all these difficulties that also have to do with global geopolitics, 2026 will be the year of €1 billion in exports. In terms of litres, we are talking about 50% of national production," said Francisco Toscano Rico, president of the Vine and Wine Institute, speaking to journalists at Casa do Vinho in Valpaços after a visit to wine producers in the north eastern Trás-os-Montes region on Monday.
According to Frederico Falcão, president of Viniportugal, the target of €1 billion should have been reached by 2023, which did not happen, and the target has now been set at €1.2 billion by 2030.
"We wanted this figure of €1 billion to be reached in 2025, but it wasn't, and the United States is largely to blame for this, due to the instability and reduction they brought us, but we are confident that by 2030 we will reach €1.2 billion," he said.
However, for the president of the interprofessional association for the international promotion of Portuguese wines, more important than achieving this goal is "bringing economic sustainability to the sector," which means continuing to increase the sale price.
"The sector has [increased the selling prices of Portuguese wines] every year, so we have been growing, year after year, in terms of the average export price," he said.
According to Francisco Toscano Rico, Portugal is one of the countries in the world with the greatest "export vocation", totalling more than 350 million litres of wine per year.
"Foreign markets increasingly recognise that there is very interesting potential here in terms of quality, [what] Americans call the formula: we have an attractive price compared to what is considered high international quality, along with the difference compared to what is considered the international profile," explained the president of the Vine and Wine Institute.
With growing notoriety in markets worldwide, the countries that import the most Portuguese wine are the United States, Brazil, the United Kingdom and France.
Despite a general decline in wine consumption, Portugal continues to resist, which leads the Vine and Wine Institute to be optimistic about the future of the sector, despite the "uncertainty" that American tariffs have brought to the market.
"When the rules are unclear, it is natural for those in the business to hold back, and that is what happened: the big American importers held back on their orders from abroad, and Portugal, which was exporting so much [to the US], its main market, suffered and was unable to recover by the end of the year [2025]," he said.
Despite a "significant drop" in exports to the US market, the Vine and Wine Institute president believes that, with the rules stabilised, despite the 15% penalty, "the conditions are in place for growth next year".
"We will wait and see, but we believe that, based on indicators of Portuguese wine sales to end consumers, Portugal is standing out in other markets. Therefore, there is a sign of optimism here, which is a market to be explored, and it is important that we have all regions of the country working together to strengthen Portugal's image in that market," he concluded.
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