Logroño, (EFE).- The Rioja sector, represented in the Regulatory Council of the Qualified Designation of Origin (DOCa) Rioja, has approved this Monday a Plan to achieve a rebalancing between supply and demand and boost sales in the short term , in the next two years, among whose measures is to reduce production and maximize the quality of wines.
The President of the Council, Fernando Ezquerro, and the Managing Director, José Luis Lapuente, have reported the content of this plan, approved by the Plenary, and that it is subject to extension to a third year, if the objectives are not achieved.
The Plan includes an adjustment of production yields for the 2023 and 2024 vintages, which will be 90% in the case of red grapes, while 100% will be maintained for white grapes, in response to the current favorable demand in this type of grape
The entry of grapes for table wine is also limited to 4% and, to 69%, the transformation yield which, in the case of white grapes for the production of white wine, is established at 70%.
With these figures, the forecast is, by 2023, to achieve a harvest of around 380-390 million kilos of grapes and 270 million liters, compared to 409 million kilos and 336 million liters of the 2022 harvest. .
Distillation to reduce storage
Another of the agreed objectives is to reduce the current stocks of covered wine, which, as reported by Ezquerro, reach 938 million liters (about two vintages of wine stored)-
For this, the Regulatory Council has asked the autonomous administrations of the DOCA -La Rioja, the Basque Country and Navarra- the application of aid, primarily, the distillation of wines, with a minimum premium of 80 cents per liter.
Subsidiarily, it would be the disqualification of wines, with a minimum premium of 60 cents per liter, although, as Ezquerro has specified, it is not what was initially planned.
With regard to distillation, the initial idea would be to act on 30 million liters in each of the two campaigns on stored stocks.
Representatives of the governments of La Rioja, the Basque Country and Navarra participated in the plenary meeting, who, according to the president, have shown their willingness to study these support measures for the sector.
It will not be requested to expand the vegetable mass
In addition, as a closure of the set of decisions adopted during the Plenary, in relation to the offer, the organizations that represent the sector in the Regulatory Council have reached the commitment not to request new plantations in the next three years.
José Luis Lapuente recalled that in the last decade the plant mass in Rioja has increased by less than 4,000 hectares to the 66,700 that are currently planted, of which 65,700 are in production.
Among the agreements adopted, there is also that the sector will ask the administrations of the DOCa for a discount on the regrafting of red to white varieties or to minority red varieties, as well as the prioritization of the restructuring of vineyards from red to white varieties or to minority red varieties, as well in response to its growing demand.
The second block of the approved plan revolves around demand, in which the new wine qualification procedure and the tasting panel program will also play an important role, Ezquerro has reported.
Within this section, the Rioja promotional campaigns will continue their commitment to boost Rioja sales in the short term. EFE