Impacted by falling sales, winegrowers in northern Portugal feel 'abandoned'

AFP English

"We feel abandoned", says winegrower Jose Manuel Ferreira from the Douro Valley, home to Portugal's famous port wine which has seen a steady decline in sales in recent years due to changing consumer habits. An increase in sales of Douro table wines has failed to compensate for the fall in port wine sales.

Transcript

00:00Today we are going to visit the Vindimas, in Douro, with a harvest all by hand, in the

00:12areas closest to the river, which are the hottest areas and where we tend to make the best

00:18wines in Porto.

00:49The grapes that are left over in the Douro region are grapes that are at a very low price,

01:19many times they don't even pay for the harvest, so unfortunately there will be a lot of grapes

01:24in the vineyards.

01:25The price they are offering for the grapes is low, even from the cost of the harvest,

01:29so there is a structural problem in the region.

01:30People feel abandoned and sad, for sure, it is a very big revolt that the small producer

01:39has, because they don't admit to paying the grapes at the minimum price, while the wine

01:47continues to be expensive in the markets, so the grapes are paid at the minimum price.

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