The wine sector is experiencing troubled times in Spain. The pandemic crisis; inflation and rising production costs; a vintage like the current one, very early and scarce due to the drought and high temperatures; the low price at which grapes are being paid to farmers in regions such as Catalonia or the crisis in Rioja, which has led the Association of Family Wineries of Rioja to withdraw from the management tables of the Rioja Qualified Designation of Origin (DOCa) -the Plenary of the Regulatory Council and the Rioja Wine Interprofessional- for their disagreement with the strategic policy, which goes against the business model of the small and medium-sized winery.
But the power and apparent good health of the wine sector, despite these problems, is demonstrated by the continuous rise in the price of vineyards that reaches, for example, 100,000 euros per hectare in La Rioja, 70,000 in La Ribera . del Duero or between 25,000 and more than 50,000 euros for 10,000 square meters in Toro or Marco de Jerez.
Prices very far from those that at the end of last year began, as means, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. According to the latest data offered by MAPA in October of last year after the Land Prices survey, the average cost per hectare of vineyards in Spain stood at 16,485 euros (0.1% more than the previous year) and the average between 5,489 euros/hectare in Murcia and 64,590 in the Canary Islands. Between these two figures, according to the MAP, 19,585 euros are paid in Castilla y León (Ribera del Duero, Rueda or Toro); 20,052 in Catalonia (Cava, Penedés…); 23,786 in Andalusia (Jerez, Montilla-Moriles…); 33,007 in Galicia (Rías Baixas, Ribeiro…); 41,315 in La Rioja or 47,859 in the Basque Country (Txakolí and La Rioja).
Figures that are very far from the record of 200,000 euros per hectare that the emblematic Tempus Vega Sicilia winery paid when it landed in the DO Rías Baixas last year 2022. Then, the group chaired by Pablo Álvarez, put the price of the vineyard in the territories where it has presence and, in addition to the 200,000 euros/hectare paid by the Galician vineyards – “it is the most expensive and not even by paying you can find the vineyard we want” -, he spoke of 90,000 euros in La Rioja, 70,000 in Ribera del Duero or 24,000 in Toro.
And if the price per hectare reached 200,000 euros, in 2022 in Rías Baixas, a figure never seen in the region and which demonstrates the growing demand and interest in production, especially Albariño. At this time, and as confirmed to La Información by DO sources, that price continues in similar parameters. “The increase in the price per hectare in Rías Baixas is attributable to various factors. Among them, the scarcity of land available for planting vineyards in the region, as well as the growing demand for quality wines with the Rías Baixas designation of origin. In addition, the increase in the export of these wines internationally has boosted the appreciation of Galician lands”, they explain.
And in other wine-growing areas of our country, today, and despite the secrecy that almost always characterizes these operations, the price of land continues to rise, especially, as we explained, in the most reputable Designations of Origin. Thus, Ángel Garrote Ruiz de Temiño, manager of Vinos de Los Ángeles and real estate advisor on the purchase of wineries and agricultural land, explains the great interest – large winery groups and private investors – that exists in acquiring vineyards in their area of influence and assets. . : “In the Ribera del Duero there is more demand than supply, due to the limited area and because the vineyard is of very high quality,” he assures, before estimating an average price per hectare of more than 50,000 or 60,000 euros, half , more or less, of the one that is handled in La Rioja.
A winegrower from Rioja Alavesa, who prefers to reserve his name, “a certain ‘omertá’ and secrecy still works here and nobody is going to tell you how much he sells for and how much he buys for”, he says, points out that the average price of a hectare of vineyard in this area is around 90,000 euros, “but there is always the occasional more special plot that has been bought for 100,000 or 110,000 euros.” Of course, he assures that “quite a lot of purchase and sale operations are carried out in La Rioja and there is a lot of demand for vineyards.”
An area where in recent years individual investors have landed, but, above all, large wineries and groups such as Tempus Vega Sicilia and Benjamín Rothschild, Pago de Carraovejas or Torre de Oña, from the La Rioja Alta SA group, which have paid between 90,000 and 120,000 euros per hectare. “It is good that the land has been revalued so much for those winegrowers who are about to retire or do not see generational change in their farm,” explains this winegrower. “Never has such a high price been paid for land. To the point that he considers that he is at his maximum price. That is good because money comes to the farmer who wants to sell, but, on the other hand, the high price prevents smaller and family wineries from being able to grow. Right now it is very difficult to do with a piece of land in Rioja Alavesa no matter how bad it is. There aren’t any, and what there is is very expensive, it’s at the price of gold and it’s impossible to make a vineyard profitable at 100,000 euros per hectare”.
Wines at the price of gold.
To corroborate this bubble in the price of vineyards, there is nothing more than looking at a portal specialized in the sale of agricultural assets such as AgroAnuncios. “Secono vineyard estate for sale in Burgos with old vines of the Tempranillo variety, 25 years old, within the Ribera del Duero Designation of Origin. 7.50 hectares for 475,000 euros”, at a rate of 63,333 euros per hectare. O Purchase of vineyards in production. Investment company buys vineyards in production. We have already made several purchase operations with an average of 80,000 euros per hectare in La Rioja, 50,000 in Ribera del Duero or 25,000 in Toro. Area or sub-area of interest: Rioja Alavesa (from the Ebro to the north); Ribera del Duero (Burgos and Valladolid) and Toro (Zamora). Farms not very small and without limit. We do not buy a winery, only a vineyard in production. In Rioja and Toro in glass. In Ribera del Duero we can also study espalier”.
But the high price of the vineyards also occurs in the south. “Sale of a Palomino Fino vineyard estate in Cádiz,” announces a viticulturist who intends to retire. “Rustic vineyard property located in the municipality of Sanlúcar de Barrrameda in one of the best areas of the Jerez-Sherry designation of origin. It has an area of 18 hectares. The average age of the vineyard is about 9 years. It is a farm of vineyards of the palomino fino grape variety. It is a farm with first-class albariza lands, reaching productions above the regulatory quota. It also has a 200 m² warehouse. The estate is registered with the regulatory council of the denomination of origin of Jerez-Sherry. Price: 960,000 euros.”
The wine sector thus shows its vigor and its importance within the Spanish economy, because not in vain and according to a study promoted by the Interprofessional Wine Organization of Spain (OIVE) the activity of the wine value chain is 23,700 million euros , which represents 2.2% of the Gross Added Value (GVA) of the Spanish economy and generates and maintains 427,000 jobs.
It must be taken into account that our country, although the planted area has been reduced by 43% since 1980, is the largest vineyard in the world with 940,000 hectares – almost 2% of the national territory – dedicated to vine cultivation. The world’s leading exporter of wine in volume and the third, after France and Italy, in value. And it is that wine is made in the 17 autonomous communities of our country and the 17 are also exporters. But the price of the vineyard skyrockets. Will the bubble burst?
