The Executive of Castilla-La Mancha has emphasized the good progress of the wine sector in the region in foreign markets, with exports of wine and derived products totaling 303.9 million euros in the first five months of 2026.
This was highlighted this Wednesday by the second vice president of the regional Government, José Manuel Caballero, during his visit to InterValdepeñas, accompanied by the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, and Rural Development, Julián Martínez Lizán, on the occasion of the transfer of the headquarters of the DOP Valdepeñas to the new Interprofessional Wine Association, as indicated by the Junta in a press release.
Caballero has focused on the data from the month of May, when wine and derived exports reached 61.8 million euros. Compared to April, the exported value increased by 6.5% and the average price rose by 10.8%, to 0.87 euros per liter, the highest record of 2026.
"The goal is not only to sell more wine outside our borders but to ensure that it increasingly has greater value and recognition. And the latest data shows that we are making progress in that direction," the second vice president stated.
In this line, he pointed out that Castilla-La Mancha maintains its leadership as the main autonomous community exporter in volume, concentrating around 48.5% of the total that Spain sells abroad. "Behind these figures are farmers, cooperatives, and wineries that are making a huge effort to modernize, gain competitiveness, and take our wines to more and more markets," he emphasized.
He also mentioned Valdepeñas as "a good example of that international vocation," with wines present in European countries such as Germany, the Netherlands, or Sweden and in other markets like Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland.
New stage for the DOP Valdepeñas
For his part, the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, and Rural Development, Julián Martínez Lizán, highlighted that the symbolic handing over of keys carried out this morning "is much more than the transfer of a space; it represents the commitment of the Government of Castilla-La Mancha to a sector, to the city of Valdepeñas, and to one of the most representative designations of origin of our region and our country."
The counselor has emphasized that the regional Executive "has not left alone at any moment the more than 1,200 winegrowers who belong to the DOP Valdepeñas," assuming the functions of the management body for more than four years and supporting their presence at all promotional fairs under the brand Campo y Alma.
He has also highlighted the joint effort between the regional Administration and the sector itself, "a collective work that we cannot deny has been complicated, but that has finally borne fruit," first with the signing last year of the statutes of the new Interprofessional Wine Association of the DO Valdepeñas and now with the effective transfer of the heritage, an act that culminates the legal and administrative process to ensure the conservation and continuity of the heritage linked to this Denomination.
With the transfer of these assets to InterValdepeñas, the counselor has assured that a new stage begins based on cooperation between the producing sector, the marketer, and the regional Administration, with the shared purpose of reinforcing the prestige, quality, and projection of the wines of Valdepeñas.