Josep Anton Vendrell: "There are winegrowers who are selling the grapes at 12 cents per kilo to not lose the harvest"

ClimbedWe interview Josep Anton Vendrell (Subirats, 1974), winegrower and president of the Association of Winegrowers of Penedès, at his estate, owned by the family since 1374, Masia La Bardera, in Subirats. From the macabeu vineyards he harvests, there is a privileged view of the countryside with Montserrat in the background. He tells me to observe it well because one day this green landscape could be lost. This year, farmers are crying out against the abusive prices they are being charged for a kilo of harvested grapes. They have been doing so for years, but this year they consider that the three statements issued by the DO Cava have angered them this year they consider that the three statements issued by the DO Cava have angered them.

The DO Cava issued a statement on August 5 in which it said that the harvest forecast would be very good.

— And he also assured that he would inject, that was the verb, one hundred million euros to the six thousand winegrowers of the DO Cava. In the document, he only mentioned the municipalities of the DO Cava of Catalonia. Do you know what happened? The fellow farmers from Almendralejo, Requena, and Logroño called me and asked how we had obtained the subsidies that they would not receive.

Therefore, the statement should have included all municipalities of the DO Cava, including regions outside of Catalonia.

— Of course, I already told you that we did not receive any subsidy, that these figures must have been for the entire DO Cava, which is Spanish. And besides, we say more things, because we assume that it is the value of the grape harvest of the DO Cava, and we check that if we harvest 200 million kilos of grapes, with the injection of 100 million euros that the DO Cava was talking about, it turns out that they would pay us 0.50 euros per kilo.

This year's forecast for DO Cava is around 300 million kilos, according to an agricultural group and DO Cava itself.

— Our forecast is 230 million, with an excess in sales from last year of 40 million kilos. So, let's do the math again. Since the forecast is this, if we divide it by the famous 100 million from the DO Cava statement, we already find that the figure per kilo of grapes is 0.43 euros.

The DO Cava assured in its statement that they would maintain last year's prices.

— We have it. If for us, with our operations, it turns out that we should be paid at 0.43, and they say they are maintaining prices, then what they pay us is between 0.12, 0.25 and 0.40. Twenty years ago, winegrowers sold grapes to the DO Cava at the same price.

Currently, your associate colleagues must have already told you at what prices they are selling the grapes.

— Yes, I know them. The official prices from producer wineries are between 0.25 and 0.30 euros in four wineries, those that make millions of bottles. There are grape growers who are selling their grapes for 12 cents to avoid losing the harvest.

Can they be denied?

— What is the alternative? To leave the grapes to spoil in the vineyard? Psychologically, it is very hard to let the grapes go to waste, because we have been taking care of them all year. Now we cannot let them rot and dry out, because it is the effort of a whole year. I admit that we winegrowers are a strange group. If we were economists, there would be no winegrowers left. Look at us: here we live in the farmhouse, surrounded by vineyards. It is our life. My three children, as babies, slept among the vines while we harvested. We love the land.

Is it true that there have been wineries that at the last minute told you they were not buying grapes?

— Agreed. Twenty-four hours before harvesting it, with the contract made, they have called us and told us they don't want it. It's what's currently happening. They give us excuses that can be included in the contract so they get their way.

What excuse?

— We have been told that the vines had shoots, that if it were true it would not affect production or quality or anything. If the vines have shoots it is only more work to do the pruning; nothing more. The quality of this year's grapes is unbeatable. This year we have exceptional grapes.

I'm back with the contract that you tell me that the wineries break twenty-four hours before. Can the winegrowers report it?

— How do you want us to do it? We are tied. If we report them, next year we won't be able to sell them the grapes.

What else does the contract that the wineries make you sign say when they do buy your grapes?

— It says we sell the grapes above the production cost of each winemaker.

How?

— The contract we sign has abusive clauses that ensure we are selling the grapes above the cost price. And we sign it because, if not, we lose the grapes, we don't sell them. If the contract were to be signed in January, we would have six months to plan the expense to increase the harvest or negotiate the price, but they give us the documents days before the harvest, and you don't have time because, if not, the harvest is lost.

Which wineries include this clause?

— Many. I must say that the two large wineries, Freixenet and Codorníu, make triennial and biennial contracts, and they are fulfilling them. Freixenet makes us a triennial contract, according to which last year they paid us 0.50; this year, 0.55 and next year, 0.60. At Codorníu, the contract is biennial, and for both years they have maintained the price, which is between 0.51 and 0.59. The price varies depending on whether it is 'guarda' or 'guarda superior'. Another winery, Vallformosa: maintains last year's prices, but buys 30% less grapes, therefore, if they buy us 70% of what they bought last year, it works out at about 0.38. However, they can say that this year they pay the kilo of grapes at 0.49, hand-picked; and 0.47, machine-picked, but we know that the reality is that they buy us 30% less grapes than last year and, therefore, the reality of the data is different. All these figures I give refer to the three majority varieties of Penedès, macabeu, xarel·lo and parellada.

Do you sell grapes at Corpinnat?

— Yes, I have brought some, because my grapes are organic, hand-picked, and they pay very well for them. The minimum they pay is 0.94, but it's a minority market. Corpinnat producers have their own vineyards; most are self-sufficient, they don't need us. Corpinnats and superior aged cavas are a limited segment of the market because the population, in general, cannot afford to pay 20 euros for a bottle of bubbles. They are the tip of the pyramid, of great value, but at the base are the products that the majority can buy, the large volume, and that doesn't mean they have to have rock-bottom prices. The other day, I was sent a photo of a shop in Japan where a bottle of cava made in our area was being sold for 1.35.

What price should a bottle of cava, one of those you call large volume, have for the farmer to make the numbers add up?

— Six euros. From six euros we can talk about it so that the whole chain is sustainable and everyone can make a living.

In the market there are cava bottles for under six euros.

— They have been below six euros for many years. In addition, you have to add that the number of bottles has decreased. Freixenet removed millions of bottles from the market due to a market decision.

The DO Cava has many proposals to face the times to come, as well as climate change.

— Some are not acceptable. During the electoral period, Marta Vidal's candidacy said they could accept reducing the aging months for cava. Going from the current nine months to less. Currently, there are already wineries that bring cavas to the market at eight months and one day, which technically is already nine months. Well now, they say fewer months. I myself have informed the Department of Agriculture that there are wineries producing more bottles than their own production capacity.

And what did the Ministry tell you?

— They reply that they are controlling it, which means they are aware of it. Since no one else says anything, because as I said we are tied up, it just keeps going on.

How do you see the future?

— Bubbles have a great future worldwide. In Penedès we have a dry land territory that has no cultivation alternative. We want to work to have succession and continue investing in the territory. We are not asking for the minimum 0.94 that Corpinnat pays, which we would already like; we are asking for a minimum of 0.60 per kilogram harvested.

You have a board member of the winegrowers' association on the board of the DO Cava, you will be able to work to achieve it.

— Do you know that the colleague you mention, Juan Colomer, didn't even find out about the communications issued by the DO Cava? He didn't know until I told him. And what's more, as vice-president there is another winegrower, David Sendra, from Unió de Pagesos. And yet another, Fernando Medina, from Requena. And with three winegrowers on the board, the DO Cava issues three communications that do not reflect the reality of the sector or the DO Cava.