The Portuguese Minister of Agriculture, Maria do Céu Antunes, accompanied yesterday, in the municipalities of São João da Pesqueira and Santa Marta de Penaguião, the harvests in the demarcated region of the Duero. Throughout the day, the governor participated in the Quinta do Pessegueiro vintage and visited the Douro and Porto Alves de Sousa wine producer.

In the oldest demarcated region in the world, the head of the agriculture portfolio learned about the problems of the Duero, with a harvest marked by a pandemic, which requires special protection and hygiene measures, but also had the opportunity to learn about innovative projects of wine. , marked by a highly professional staff and generational change, without ever renouncing old knowledge, tradition and acquired experience.

The head of the agriculture portfolio also had the opportunity to speak about the crisis measures for the wine sector, launched by the Ministry of Agriculture, with the aim of guaranteeing better stabilization conditions and socio-economic recovery.

Of the package of crisis measures to support the wine sector, worth 18 million euros, 12 million euros were allocated to the distillation of wine and 6 million to storage.

The Douro region paved the way for compliance with these measures, both in distillation and storage. Thus, the Douro producers will receive more than 854 thousand euros for storage and 3,222 million euros for wine distillation.

Within the framework of the creation of exceptional measures to support the wine sector, a qualitative reserve was also created for the Douro region, for an amount of 5 million euros, which will allow to sustain 10 thousand barrels of 550 liters of must, with rights to the Porto PDO.

The main objective of this measure is to help producers, by supporting producers / bottlers, fortified wine merchants and port wine merchants, registered in the IVDP, I.P. (Institute of the Duero and Port Wine), and buy the production of the 2020 harvest from the producers.

“With these measures we intend to guarantee better conditions for a faster stabilization and an economic recovery. It was essential to respond to the needs of the sector, operationalizing, quickly and in permanent dialogue, the support mechanisms provided, allowing operators to plan the harvest and properly manage their stocks. This is always with a view to ensuring support for a gradual return to the normal market situation ”, highlighted Maria do Céu Antunes. The final global amount for exceptional measures to support the wine sector was around 11 million euros: 2.6 billion euros for storage support and 8.4 billion euros for crisis distillation.

The harvest campaign in 2020 in the Douro region is expected to decrease production by around 20%.

The Douro region plays an important role in Portuguese wine exports, representing 46% of total wine exports and 72% of PDO wines. In area, the region represents 23%, with an area suitable for PDO of 40,071 hectares, distributed by 20,015 winegrowers.

The Minister of Agriculture also met with the municipalities that make up the Duero Intermunicipal Community, where she listened to the concerns of the territory and discussed the Government's strategy for the sustainable development of the agricultural sector.

The day ended at Taylor Caves, in Vila Nova de Gaia, where he visited the new World of Wine (WOW) project, a great investment for the promotion of wine, gastronomy, history, cork and fashion.