the European recipe to save the wine crisis

Touring La Rioja in autumn is to enter an impressive sea of ​​color in the form of small yellow, orange and red trees. However, this characteristic bucolic landscape will change in the coming years following Europe’s plan: uproot vineyards. Paradoxically, from the same place from which they have been receiving funds for decades to promote the expansion of the sector.

The EU Wine package. It is Europe’s roadmap to manage the crisis that the sector is going through and was agreed in December 2025. How? Going from expansion to contraction of supply administratively. Thus, it favors the destruction of productive vineyards definitively and voluntarily with incentives.

In addition, the plantation system is made more flexible, extending deadlines and exempting from fines those who decide not to use their plantation authorizations. On a commercial level, Brussels is committed to modernization and added value over volume, consolidating alternatives such as non-alcoholic wines and digital labeling with QR codes.

Why it is important. To begin with, due to the economic magnitude of the sector in the EU and what these definitive goodbyes imply: it supports 2.9 million jobs and contributes more than 130,000 million euros to the community GDP, according to the report “Economic, social and environmental importance of the wine sector in the EU” by the European Wine Business Committee prepared by PwC. Rioja has recently opened the aid application deadline and offers between 2,300-2,600 euros per hectare.

But also because the EU plan involves applying the same measures for different realities. By not distinguishing between regions with large surpluses (Bordeaux) and areas with more balanced markets (such as Rioja or Duero), there is a risk of destroying agricultural capital of incalculable value. The drama is not that about “bad wine”, but that the market can no longer absorb even wines with Designation of Origin.

Context. For decadesthe Common Agricultural Policy subsidized vineyards by protecting minimum prices, which distanced the farmer from a market reality in which supply exceeded demand. This approach generated large structural surpluses: since the 80s There is the term “wine lake” to refer to that overproduction derived from central planning that ignored the change in consumer habits.

We drink less and less wine and The new generations are not so interested. Nevertheless, Spain more or less holds the type although it is not immune to changing habits: people drink less frequently and more selectively and the alcohol-free options. Europe tried some patchesbut the wine package is the current and most drastic response to the problem that the agrarian policy itself created.

Evolution of global wine consumption. Source: International Organization of Wine and Vine

La Rioja, ground zero. La Rioja has already made a move opening the aid period for the green harvesta first step that this year seeks to identify those who are willing, in the near future, to say goodbye definitively to their vines. What is “Green Harvest”? Destroy the grapes before they ripen. There is a key nuance: 15 extra points are awarded to those who commit to uprooting their vines forever in the future.

The impact of the measure. The consequences of this plan are measured in terms of feasibility and territory:

• On an economic level, while the green harvest is paid between 2,300 and 2,600 euros per hectare, the definitive grubbing is estimated between 4,000 and 6,000 euros/hectare (in France). In any case, the basis of the aid seeks to reach the professional whose income depends exclusively on the countryside, trying to avoid the collapse of the rural economy (for example, in Rioja).
• Loss of assets. The uprooting destroys irreversible agricultural capital. In areas where there is no alternative or the sector’s roots are deep, such as La Rioja (honoring the slogan: the land with a wine name), it can be a catalyst for the abandonment of the territory and a change in its landscape.

Towards a luxury wine. Or a wine without. The sector is moving towards a model of less and more, a shift towards adding value to the product. In short, the wine that remains on the market is scarcer and can defend higher prices. Likewise, its survival depends on accepting that wine is no longer a mass consumption product, but rather a value-added good adapted to new trends.

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Cover | Shaury