Contract grape prices in Rioja are causing worry in the region with some growers being offered 40 cents ($0.45) per kilo – a figure that, one prominent Rioja Alta winery reportedly said, would not cover the cost of pruning.

According to local Rioja news outlet Nuevecuatrouno.com, some wineries were offering prices of “52 or 55 cents per kilo of grapes and some cooperatives are trialing 50 cents with a first payment of 15 cents”. Reports of prices of 40 cents per kilo had one unnamed winery up in arms.

The source said: “This is a disaster,… at that price not even the pruning costs are covered. And then there is talk of wanting to make quality wines and for Rioja to recover its value.”

The uproar comes in the midst of the region’s move to distill excess wine stocks (in line with approval from Brussels and similar efforts in Spain and France) and a green harvesting initiate to reduce yields. For more on this see Rioja Glut Prompts Distillation Bid and Extremadura requests crisis distillation in New Rosé Good for the Gut.

Last week it was announced that the Rioja region would receive €15 million ($167m) in aid for the wine sector this year with a further €17 million available in 2024.