This document discusses viticulture and urban wine culture in the Penedès region near Barcelona, Spain. It notes that the Penedès region produces 146 million liters of wine annually within 25 km of Barcelona, but Barcelona's 4.3 million residents alone cannot consume all of the region's production. It questions whether the future of the Penedès region is strictly related to viticulture given challenges competing on price and volume. The document advocates for adding value to wines and integrating viticulture into the broader agricultural sector through research, development, innovation and sustainable practices.

1. Viticulture & Urban Wine
Culture
By Oriol Guevara – Abicon Wines SL
Winter 2013
2nd Working Group Meeting at ESAB
European Concerted Research Action
COST Action: Urban Agriculture Europe

3. Map of Catalonia: Penedès - Barcelona

4. Penedès Maps

5. Models of Agriculture in
Barcelona Metropolitan Area
 Is the Penedes Area within the influence of Barcelona?
 Is there territorial planning or agricultural politics
involving wine and the Penedes?
 Is the future of Penedes strictly related only to
viticulture?
 Is the Penedes more dependent of Barcelona than of
other winegrowing areas?

7. 25 km away from Barcelona

8. 25 km away from Barcelona

9. Quiet and rural after all

10. Have Total
DO KG 2008 KG 2009 KG 2010 harvested x registered %
DO viticultural.
Catalunya 26.488.291 32.224.761 29.657.251 1.109
Cava 89.703.613 97.485.549 202.065.470 4.396 8.034 54,72
Penedès 173.320.424 185.944.845 120.076.479 2.810 5.592 50,25
Alella 863.909 939.182 716.756 35 97 36,08
Empordà 8.818.737 8.795.989 8.587.086 313 373 83,91
Priorat 4.828.900 5.022.058 3.979.769 418 818 51,10
Terra Alta 30.442.499 34.534.851 29.597.568 1.118 1.653 67,63
Source: INCAVI 2010
Tarragona 27.540.908 20.449.941 12.393.645 647 2.076 31,17
Conca de
Barberà 14.363.397 15.929.523 4.643.236 254 1.543 16,46
Costers del
Segre 11.022.549 9.773.778 6.480.752 172 639 26,92
Pla de
Bages 721.697 1.265.987 1.144.633 40 105 38,10
Montsant 7.298.057 9.080.528 7.254.200 520 957 54,34
Vi de taula 1.393.468 2.303.089 1.909.749 157
Destil·lació 603.080 647.580 895.020 41

11. Source: RCDOPenedès

12. Source: RCDOPenedès

13. Sales in liters
Source: RCDOPenedès

14. Models of Agriculture in
Barcelona Metropolitan Area
 Is the Penedes Area within the influence of Barcelona?
 Within distance?........ More or less
 Created in 1960: protection origin&quality
 5700 viticulturalists; 270 wineries; 148
companies; 150 to 200 million liters/year
 Year 2009/10: 24000 Ha (19000 white grapes)
 Year 2000/01: 27000 Ha (22000 white grapes)
 Production: 146 million liters in 2008
(RDCOPenedès)
(IDESCAT) Barcelona (Metrop.) is around 4.3 million people (2000)
(RCDOPenedès) Total production in 2008 was 146 million liters
146 Ml./ 4.3 Ml. = 34 lit/persxyear

15. (OIV) Wine consumption in Spain 2010/11 = 22 l/pers x year
(OIV) Wine consumption in Spain 1987/88 = 47 l/pers x year
(OEMV) Up to 2006
(OEMV) After 2006
consumption decreased
consumption decreased
in quantity but
in both quantity and
increased in
quality/value
quality/value
REASONS:
- Drink and drive new strict laws
- Restaurant vs home consumption
inversion
- New trends due to new social
tendencies: low alcohol, appealing
labels, new tops…
- World/spanish recession
- etc

16. According to Penedès numbers:
 Barcelona (Metro.) cannot consume today’s production
 No BASIC commodity of diet but IMPORTANT
 Consumption trends are changing
 Depression means sales decrease…. also
 Barcelona (Metro.) relies more and more on export
 Barcelona (Metro.) is a target/competitive market: (INCAVI
2008) only 1 out of 5 bottles consumed in Catalunya-
Barcelona is produced in Catalonia; 2 from Rioja
 Barcelona (Metro.) is a great potential public (25 km away)
for consumption, promotion, tourism…
 4.3 million people
 10 million visitors/year

17. Models of Agriculture in
Barcelona Metropolitan Area
 Is the Penedes Area within the influence of Barcelona?
 Is there territorial planning or agricultural politics
involving wine and the Penedes?
 Is the future of Penedes strictly related only to
viticulture?
 Is the Penedes more dependent of Barcelona than of
other winegrowing areas?

18. Areas planted, tilled and plowed until the 1950s

19. Right or wrong reasoning and
execution?

20. Models of Agriculture in
Barcelona Metropolitan Area
 Is the Penedes Area within the influence of Barcelona?
 Is there territorial planning or agricultural politics
involving wine and the Penedes?.... Who knows!
 Is the future of Penedes strictly related only to
viticulture?
 Is the Penedes more dependent of Barcelona than of
other winegrowing areas?

21. Models of Agriculture in
Barcelona Metropolitan Area
 Is the Penedes Area within the influence of Barcelona?
 Is there territorial planning or agricultural politics
involving wine and the Penedes?
 Is the future of Penedes strictly related only to
viticulture?
 Cannot compete in price
 Cannot compete in volume… nor qualities…
 THE ANSWER IS NO
 Is the Penedes more dependent of Barcelona than of
other winegrowing areas?

22. Models of Agriculture in
Barcelona Metropolitan Area
What to do ???????
 Pull out vineyard acreage:……. Economicaly unfeasible
 Pull out vineyard acreage:……. No because market is not
Barcelona but the World; it makes no sense
 Replace vines: by what?...... Not possible (climate, soil,
water supply, culture, know-how, difficulty in
reconversion of a Sector that is responsible for more
than 2% of GDP, etc

23. Models of Agriculture in
Barcelona Metropolitan Area
What is POSSIBLE to do:
 Look for realistic added value of commodity: stop lowering
prices!!!
 Study integration of commodity in overall agriculture (region,
estate, continent, world)
 Restructuring of sector according to studies of
strenghts/weaknesses report: enotourism, legacy,
complementing tourism, etc
 Research + Development + Innovation …. and Implementation
with control/redesign/reimplementation bucle strategy

24. Models of Agriculture in
Barcelona Metropolitan Area
Is happening: Should happen
 Lack in reference  Valid questionnaires +
Modelisation + proactive
figures (diluted in decisions + evaluation of
competent authorities results + redesign +
and privates) reimplementation +
reevaluation….
 Results: subjective,
 By independent group/s
vague, conditionned,
numerous but  Scientific method
inconsistent…
 Objectives marked by
 Goals: if any… partially politicians & method and
implementation by
or not achieved technicians

25. Models of Agriculture in
Barcelona Metropolitan Area
Important things to look after:
 Culture: wine is part of a “daily” CULTURE
 Landscape: vineyards vs ?????
 Sustainability: to avoid all sorts of erosion/degradation
 Agricultural income: enough to maintain it all
Which One Is Most Important?
All of them !!

28. earth, moon and wine: the constellation
Abicon Wines SL 2013
http://www.abiconwines.cat
Oriol Guevara