Falling sales of port cause sour grapes

Sao Joao da Pesqueira – Jose Manuel Ferreira should have already started harvesting grapes on his century-old vineyard in northern Portugal – instead he is still looking for a buyer for his crop.

“I used to sell my grapes to a cooperative but this year they refused me,” the 74-year-old said in Sao Joao da Pesqueira, in the heart of the Douro wine region.

His plight is repeated across the Douro Valley, known for its vineyards. The cause: slow sales of the region's famous sweet port wine and overproduction.

Roughly 20,000 winegrowers operate along the River Douro, which winds its way across northern Portugal before spilling out into the Atlantic at Porto, the second-largest city, where major wineries are based.

Most vineyards in the region belong to several owners, who cultivate small plots averaging two hectares and sell to groups operating large estates known as quintas.