The Catalan wine sector
Wine culture, tradition and landscape are such an inherent part of Catalonia's history that it has become a symbol of our nation. The Greek and Roman civilisations brought vine-growing to the Mediterranean. Since then, vines, vineyards, wineries and wines have been part of our history.
Industry
The Catalan wine sector has a very robust and competitive structure with over 600 bottling wineries, 8,359 winemakers, and 42,822 hectares of arable land with a Catalan DO.
Most Catalan wine has a designation of origin. The current DOs are:Alella, Catalunya, Conca de Barberà, Costers del Segre, Empordà, Montsant, Penedès, Pla de Bages, Priorat, Tarragona i Terra Alta, as well as the DO Cava.
The wine-making industry employs some 4,800 people, a figure that rises to 25,900 if we include the people who work in vineyards, wineries and the service sector.
Catalan Designations of Origin
*DO CATALUNYA: in addition to the wineries that are exclusively registered with the DO Catalunya, this also covers wineries with other designations of origin, the total of which gives the figures on wine production in this DO. The total figures for the DO Catalunya are: surface area: 42,431 ha; winemakers: 5,459; wineries: 202. The DO Catalunya wine production figures include all wineries registered under this DO (whether exclusively or not).
Surface area
Catalonia is the fifth-largest autonomous community for vineyard surface area, with 55,118 hectares (5.77% of the total)
Catalonia is the second-biggest autonomous community when it comes to organic vineyards, and the third in the proportion of organic hectares as compared to conventional (27.1%). In terms of the number of organic wineries and organic wine bottlers, Catalonia is first, with 205 businesses.
55,118 total ha
(SOURCE: MAPAMA – Arable Land and Yields Survey ESYRCE, 2016)
42.822 Ha with registered DO
(Source: INCAVI, 2016)
14.877 Ha organic
(Source: MAPAMA - Sub-directorate General for Differentiated Quality and Organic Farming, 2017).
Production
Production has remained very steady over the last decade at some 3.1 million hectolitres, due to increased yield per hectare.
NEWS FROM SECTOR WINE
05.01.20
Catalan wine and cava - a symbol of the region's natural wealth
This long track record utilises the most innovative production techniques and methods.
04.15.20
BIO week, the week that puts the public in touch with organic foods
Bio Week for organic food is an event that promotes and raises the profile of organic production among end consumers.
04.15.20
Organic agricultural land increases 8% in Spain, now largest in Europe
The organic farming area in Spain stood at 2.24 million hectares in 2018, an 8% increase on the previous year. This was two percentage points less than the growth of the area in Catalonia in the last year.