The Battle of Valdepeñas was an insurrection of the town of the same name against French troops which took place on June 6, 1808.being perhaps the most remarkable historical event that this municipality of Ciudad Real has known. But for more than three years, a struggle has been going on here over the product for which it is most famous, wine, a war which now seems to be coming to an end.
The winemaking history of Valdepeñas dates back several centuries, even millennia, since recent archaeological discoveries of organic materials linked to wine production in the Iberian site of Cerro de las Cabezas – just a few kilometers from the town – place this tradition among the 7th and 4th centuries BC. C. But it was only later, during the reign of Philip II – in the second half of the 16th century – that the fame of this product spread throughout the Court of Madrid, which continues until today .
In 1930, the Regional Wine Office was established in Valdepeñas. and two years later, on September 8, 1932, the Vineyard Statute (the first law that regulated the Spanish wine sector) included and recognized this production area. In this way, the Valdepeñas Designation of Origin (DO) is one of the first protected production and processing areas in Spain. So, until more than three years ago, everything was blowing up.
The current crisis of the DO Valdepeñas has its origins in 2020 with the open war between the two strongest families and companies: García Carrión, owner of Don Simón or Pata Negra, on the one hand, and Félix Solís, owner of Los Molinos or Viña Albali, on the other. A war with crossed claims between the two – with accusations about the sale of young wine as if it were Crianza, Reserva or Gran Reserva –, which ended with the indictment of the highest leaders of both chambers before the National Court.
In November 2021, Carlos Nieto, then president of DO Valdepeñas, resigned and a process began to liquidate the association’s assets and regularize the situation of its workers. Given the dissolution of the Interprofessional, its management body, The Ministry of Agriculture has been forced, as provided by Law 7/2007, to assume management since then.when the deadline to avoid the departure of agricultural organizations -Asaja, COAG, UPA and Cooperativas Agroalimentarias- was exceeded without agreement, which led to a clear division between the marketing and production branches, the latter abandoning its representation in the ‘entity .
During this transition period, the DO Valdepeñas continued to operate under the supervision of the Government of Castile-La Mancha, although the reality is that this production area has experienced a decrease in the area of the vineyard and the number of winegrowers. There are now around 1,200, while during the 2021/2022 campaign, when the inter-profession was dissolved, there were more than 1,650, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture. Furthermore, wines produced under this quality label have suffered the loss of part of their market share.
However, in recent months and weeks, there have been hopeful rumors that things are returning to normal. This is what we can deduce, at least, from the latest statements by officials of the Ministry of Agriculture. It was his advisor, Julián Martínez Lizánwho, barely a week ago, called for the responsibility of “all parties” so that before Christmas there was an agreement to form the new Interprofessional of the DO Valdepeñas.
The Minister of Agriculture, with his back turned, alongside President Page and other authorities, at Bodegas Yuntero
The head of Agriculture of the Community Council announced that the agreement will be signed “when there is a consensus” between all parties to “make the new configuration of the interprofessional organization viable”, while work is being done to the development of new statutes. “The main challenge in developing the statutes is ensuring balanced representation between producers and processors”, an aspect which, according to the councilor, has been the “greatest aspiration” of all parties involved.
For all these reasons, he asked to “combine efforts” to advance, “as soon as possible”, the new interprofessional movement, while attacking “people with very partisan interests” who send messages against the designation of origin. In this sense, he clarified that, despite these interests, “the DO Valdepeñas exists and continues to function in a fully operational manner”, despite the “ups and downs” of recent years, concluded Martínez Lizán.
PNL from the PP to the Cortès
The Popular Parliamentary Group also registered a non-legal proposal to recover the DO of Valdepeñas.which includes, among other things, the creation of a price observatory which protects the interests of wine growers and wine growers, and which makes it possible, thanks to the application of food chain regulations, not to work below costs; a line of specific aid to compensate for costs that exceeded expenses and the creation of a quality label.
The general secretary of the PP of Castilla-La Mancha, Carolina Agudo, announcing the PNL at the headquarters of the DO Valdepeñas
On behalf of the producing party, the general secretary and head of the Asaja wine sector in Castile-La Mancha, Florencio Rodríguezassures ABC that “significant progress” is being made in the Valdepeñas DO. “We are in the last stage to return, one way or another, to the situation we had,” he said, while emphasizing that “the solution is now in the hands of the industrial and commercial sector” .
“The producer has already done his job and we have been doing it for a long time, and we are waiting to see if the small differences will really be ironed out and if the statutes of the inter-profession will be signed,” underlines Rodríguez, who hopes to be able to give “a good news in short.” Of course, he recognizes that “during this entire period which was long and complicated, we were generous and did everything in our power to defend the interests of winegrowers so that representation was not unequal, without abuse of domination by the industrial sector.
