Despite this year's rains, the harvest has not been good, affected for years by an intense drought. Vines that had been damaged by the lack of water have been recovered, but the reduction in grape collection has been maintained. With less product available, sales from wineries of the Cava Designation of Origin (D.O. Cava), with Penedès as the main producing area, have suffered, with more than 149 million bottles sold in the first nine months of 2024, 12% less than a year ago, when 170 million bottles had been sold. D.O. Cava, made up of almost 350 wineries, groups more than 38,000 hectares of vineyards and 6,200 winegrowers.
The national market has resisted better, with 47.5 million bottles sold, representing a decrease of 3.7%, while it has been more noticeable internationally, with 101.6 million bottles sold, which has meant a drop of almost 16%. Especially significant has been the decrease in Germany, responsible for almost 60% of the registered decrease. This fully includes Freixenet's decision to produce sparkling wines alternative to cava in some of its main international markets such as Germany, but also Switzerland and Austria, due to the lack of grapes. If 22 million bottles were sold in Germany in 2023, between this January and September it has dropped to 9.9 million bottles. With the German contraction, Belgium has come to lead international cava sales, with 14.3 million bottles sold, 3.6% less than in 2023. The United States and the United Kingdom complete the podium, also with decreases. Only Sweden, Japan and the Netherlands have grown.
The number of bottles sold is not expected to rise much for the remainder of the year, despite the Christmas campaign, and we will have to wait to see a change in trend, as highlighted by the president of the D.O. Cava, Xavier Pagés. "In the short term, I do not expect a return to previous figures," explains Pagés, taking into account that in 2023 the wineries of the designation of origin reached a new record, with 252 million bottles marketed and an aggregated turnover volume of 2.2 billion euros. As expected, this will be the last record that the cava sector will break in the coming years due to the decrease in production volume. If in 2021 the grape harvest stood at 300 million kilos, this 2024 the figure has been 219 million kilos, almost 30% less compared to three years ago.
Less supply also translates into higher prices, with an increase from January to September of between 10% and 15%, which implies an increase in turnover. "Sales have decreased in volume, but have increased in value," notes Pagés. In the case of exports, the price increase has reached 20%. Despite the unfavorable context, the cava sector sees an opportunity here for the revaluation of the cava brand, an aspect long demanded by a good part of the wineries, which asks to move away from volume and bet on quality. "We will not run out of product, we have to choose where and how we sell it," emphasizes Pagés. In this sense, by 2025, all premium cavas are expected to be 100% organic.