Game Changer For New Producers

[Roy Hersh]

In the past, a company that wanted to join the Port wine trade, first and foremost had to be able to come up with 150,000 liters of Port wine stocks before they could begin to be approved by the regulatory agencies. In the past decade that quantity was reduced to just 75,000 liters and when that regulation was passed there was a bunch of new Port producers ready to rise to the new level of challenge, virtually halved from where it had been..

A decision which was made at the Minister of Agriculture level, and jointly agreed to afterwards by the President of the IVDP and head of the AEVP, has relaxed things even more, completely doing away with the minimum quota of Port that a new company needed to start their company with. This is a pretty big deal. That said, there are new hoops to jump through for start ups and while far less expensive, they do present challenges nonetheless. Regardless, this is a huge reversal, and it will be interesting to see how it effects the influx of investments from outsiders, as well as those in Douro that want to get into the business.

Right at the moment, there is cautious optimism by some, and utter doom and gloom from others already in the Port wine business. Diversification continues, such as multi-region property ownership, and there is currently a major "wait and see" attitude throughout the Douro region, if not the entire country's wine sector at the moment, due to serious issues with ever decreasing wine consumption globally, and fears of an economic downturn in 2026. But a lot of this is based on speculation, so we shall see soon enough. But for anyone looking to purchase a quinta in Douro, now would be an excellent time to make a deal, as there are a number of properties up for sale; and more than usual.

[Mike J. W.]

Don't they limit the total volume of Port that can be produced and bottled in a given vintage? Will this mean more producers fighting over the same size pie?

[Bradley Bogdan]

Don't they limit the total volume of Port that can be produced and bottled in a given vintage? Will this mean more producers fighting over the same size pie?

That was my first thought as well, if the newcomers are planning on purchasing vineyards. I believe once it’s been made into Port and been registered though, you could have much more interest in purchasing older aged stocks with fewer limits on getting into bottling tawnies without the investment of buying property that comes with a share of the beneficio.


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[Andy Velebil]

Don't they limit the total volume of Port that can be produced and bottled in a given vintage? Will this mean more producers fighting over the same size pie?

Generally, they are buying existing vineyards. So there wouldn’t be much of an issue.

And for context. 25 yrs ago there was, roughly, almost 40,000 producers/growers in the Douro. It’s down to, roughly, 20,000 last I heard. Lots of consolidation and lots of small plots just being abandoned.