Climate Change Could Force Historic Catalan Winemaker to Abandon Ancestral Vineyards

One of Europe’s most renowned winemakers has warned that it may be forced to abandon its ancestral vineyards in Catalonia within 30 years as climate change makes the region increasingly hot and dry.

“Irrigation is the future. We do not rely on the weather,” said its 83-year-old president, Miguel Torres. “I don’t know how long we can stay here making good wines, maybe 20 or 30 years, I don’t know. Climate change is changing all the circumstances.”

Familia Torres, which has been producing wine in the Penedès region since 1870, said rising temperatures and worsening droughts are threatening traditional viticulture in the area.

“In 30 to 50 years’ time maybe we have to stop viniculture here.

The company is now investing heavily in adaptation measures, including irrigation systems, higher-altitude vineyards, and water conservation techniques.

“Tourists are very important for Catalonia and we are very close to Barcelona. This area could be for activity for tourists but viniculture, I don’t think is going to be here.”

Familia Torres owns over 1,000 hectares of vineyards in Catalonia and additional sites in Spain, Chile, and California. The group is now cultivating vines at 950 metres in Tremp, in the Catalan Pre-Pyrenees, and has acquired land in Benabarre, in the Aragonese Pyrenees, at 1,100 metres—an area currently too cold to grow grapes but promising for the future.

Over the last four decades, average temperatures in Penedès have increased by 1°C, causing harvests to begin 10 days earlier. To maintain wine quality, the company employs methods to delay ripening, but challenges are mounting.

In 2023, some of Torres’s vineyards saw production drop by up to 50%—“the worst year I have ever seen,” said Torres. Although this year has so far been better, with increased rainfall and irrigation use, wetter conditions bring the threat of mildew.

“In the future if we want to have more continuity in the harvest we have to stop the warming,” he said. “The warming is killing the trade.”

The company dedicates 11% of its annual profits to fighting and adapting to climate change. However, rising costs associated with water use and climate adaptation are squeezing profits, particularly in a highly competitive global market.

Torres also highlighted financial pressures from external markets, including potential US import tariffs and recent tax hikes on wine in the UK. A new packaging tax in the UK, which heavily impacts glass bottles and jars, has further strained exports.

“We have no profit in exports to the UK, that is the reality. Hundreds of thousands of English people come to Spain on holiday and know the brand. We have to keep it alive in the UK.”

To reduce costs, the winemaker is now considering bottling some of its lower-priced wines in the UK. Shipping wine in bulk using tankers is significantly cheaper than transporting bottled wine and could help offset rising overheads.

“At least by next year we should be already importing that way in the UK,” Torres said. “British consumers are paying more for wine and there is not another possibility [to importing]. Production in the UK is very little.”

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