The territorial delegate of Agriculture, Fishing, Water and Rural Development of the Junta in Córdoba, Raquel López, visited this Friday the San Acacio and Asunción cooperative, in Montemayor, to learn on the ground about the traditional process of drying the Pedro Ximénez grape. This practice characteristic of the DOP Montilla-Moriles constitutes one of the essential traits of the wine identity of the province of Córdoba.
According to the regional administration in a note, the visit takes place in the midst of the harvest campaign, which this year the sector faces with more favorable expectations after a particularly difficult 2025 campaign due to the incidence of downy mildew. The improvement in production represents a relief for grape growers, cooperatives, and wineries in the Montilla-Moriles area and allows to bring back to the forefront an activity closely linked to the territory.
During the tour, in which she was accompanied by the mayor of Montemayor, Antonio García; the manager of the Regulatory Council of the DOP Montilla-Moriles, Enrique José Garrido, and the director of the cooperative, Antonio García, the delegate highlighted the effort of farmers and winemakers who keep the Pedro Ximénez drying tradition alive, "a fundamental tradition for the quality and prestige of our wines."
The Junta of Andalucía has articulated a specific response to the consequences of the last campaign through extraordinary aid for the damages caused by downy mildew. In Córdoba, the resolution of December 2025 allowed for the payment of 969,944 euros to 702 files, while the provisional resolution of July 2026 adds another 48 beneficiaries for 45,489 euros.
In total, both resolutions reach 750 beneficiaries and represent 1,015,433.55 euros in direct aid aimed at the affected grape growers. In parallel to this extraordinary support, the Junta maintains its line of support for the modernization and improvement of the competitiveness of vineyards through aid for restructuring and reconversion.
In the province of Córdoba, 22 files were approved in 2024, with 739,741 euros of aid granted, and 45 files in 2025, for a total of 1,572,470 euros. For the 2026 call, 39 applications have been registered, with nearly 919,000 euros requested, which are currently in the resolution phase.
These aids, fully financed by the European Union through the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (Feaga), allow for the implementation of restructuring actions, varietal changes, and improvements in cultivation techniques, promoting more efficient, competitive, and prepared farms against the effects of climate change.
The delegate has emphasized that "from the Junta de Andalucía we work to support a strategic sector through different lines of aid, investment support, and restructuring of vineyards," and has highlighted that the wine sector "generates employment, retains population in the territory, and is part of the identity and wealth of our province."
It is "a sector that looks to the future without renouncing its traditions," López indicated, who pointed out the pasera of Pedro Ximénez maintained by the San Acacio and Asunción cooperative as an example. "The commitment of our farmers and winemakers is essential to maintain a tradition that differentiates Montilla-Moriles and contributes to the prestige of Córdoba wines."