Spain: Catalonia drought, irrigation, regeneration and classification

Published 2024년 4월 9일

Tridge summary

Catalonia's agri-food industry, particularly its wine sector, is grappling with one of its worst droughts on record, significantly impacting vineyard production and wine quality. Key players like Familia Torres and Freixenet are adopting innovative agricultural and water conservation practices, such as regenerative farming, drought-tolerant rootstocks, and water-saving measures in wineries, to combat the effects of reduced rainfall. Despite these efforts, the industry faces challenges, including insufficient government support and the need for more flexible irrigation regulations. Freixenet has also launched a new premium sparkling wine for the DACH market, using the Charmat Method, in response to the climatic crisis and to meet consumer demand despite grape scarcity. The sector, despite facing supply issues, has achieved record sales figures, underscoring the resilience and adaptability of Catalonia's wine industry in the face of environmental challenges.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

As Catalonia continues to wrangle with one of its worst droughts on record, Louis Thomas discovers how the Spanish region’s wine industry is attempting to work through this prolonged climatic disaster. Agri-food is a major industry in the region, with 2021 figures from the Catalan Government revealing that it had a turnover of €43 billion, making it worth almost a fifth (19.7%) of Catalan GDP. Food and drink production is also a source of great pride for Catalonia, which has been named World Region of Gastronomy for 2025. But one of the necessities for this industry, water, has been in short supply. Despite some recent episodes of heavy rainfall, the last few years have proven to be brutally dry for Catalonia’s agricultural sector. Things got so bad that the regional government even declared a state of emergency at the beginning of February, as water reserve levels fell below 16%. Among the wine producers to have been hit by these harsh climatic conditions is Familia Torres. One ...

Source: Thedrinkbusiness