Douro: Minister announces 380 applications for support of 12 million euros

O support of 12 million euros for Douro wine growers, who left the grapes to be harvested because they could not sell their production, added about 380 applications, announced today the Government.

“In support of 12 million euros for grapes that have not been harvested for more than 380 applications,” said Minister of Agriculture and Mar, José Manuel Fernandes, at the end of a parliamentary hearing in the context of the assessment of the State Budget for 2027, which began on Thursday and ends early today.

Applications for exceptional income support for wine growers in the Douro Demarcated Region (RDD), with grapes to be harvested, took place between the end of September and mid-October.

With a budget of EUR 12 million, the support is intended for the vineyard area which, in the 2026/2027 wine year, is wholly or partially left unharmed.

The beneficiaries must keep the grapes not harvested on the vines of the parcels identified in the application until the on-the-spot checks are carried out by the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e Porto (IVDP).

According to the law governing this measure, this support is intended to “ensure these wine growers a minimum income, preventing the abandonment of the vineyard and the consequent degradation of the wine-growing landscape and the productive potential of the region”.

It is a “support for the income of the wine grower, not a measure of management or supply regulation”, and is “granted under the conditions of the de minimis agricultural scheme, without prejudice to full compliance with the rules applicable to the common organisation of the markets in agricultural products”.

After last year's production in the Douro had grown up to 178,000 barrels of wine (550 liters each), the problems of the disposal of grapes again worsened this year.

The overall final vote of the OE2027 is scheduled for November 24, after the discussion process in the specialty.