One of Spain’s most iconic wine producers, Familia Torres, has issued a stark warning about the future of its vineyards in Catalonia, citing the escalating impact of climate change.
Miguel Torres, the 83-year-old president of the family-owned business, told The Guardian that increasing temperatures and water scarcity may force the company to abandon its ancestral lands within the next 20 to 30 years.
Founded in 1870, Familia Torres has been a standard-bearer for winemaking in the Penedès region. The company currently manages over 1,000 hectares of vineyards in Catalonia, a region once known for its ideal grape-growing conditions. But over the last four decades, the average temperature in the area has risen by one degree Celsius, leading to harvests that begin about 10 days earlier than in previous generations.
To mitigate the challenges, Torres has implemented irrigation systems in both Spain and California, and is now focusing on planting vineyards at higher altitudes, including Tremp (950 meters above sea level) and Benabarre (1,100 meters) in the Pyrenees. While the cooler temperatures offer promise, some of these areas are still too cold to fully support viticulture.
Yet, despite these adaptation efforts, the outlook remains grim. Miguel Torres has warned that if global warming continues at its current pace, viticulture could disappear from the Penedès region in 30 to 50 years. “We don’t know how long we can keep producing quality wine here,” he admitted, raising the possibility that the area may instead pivot toward tourism due to its proximity to Barcelona.
The family’s commitment to sustainability is robust — 11% of annual profits are reinvested into climate initiatives — but these efforts have struggled to offset recent challenges. The year 2023 marked one of the worst harvests on record, with some areas experiencing a 50% drop in production due to drought and extreme heat. Although 2024 saw improvements thanks to winter and spring rains, the added humidity encouraged mildew and other vine diseases, further threatening yields.
Aside from climate impacts, economic pressures are squeezing the winery. Rising costs for irrigation, combined with new environmental taxes on packaging, particularly glass bottles, have significantly reduced profit margins. In a notable shift, exports to the UK have fallen by 10%, prompting Familia Torres to consider bottling lower-priced wines in the UK to reduce transportation and packaging costs.
Despite these multifaceted challenges, the message from Miguel Torres is clear: climate change is the greatest existential threat to the future of wine in Catalonia. Without urgent global action, one of Europe’s oldest wine regions may no longer be viable for viticulture in the decades to come.
Source: Vinetur