Reports on the economic situation of a region usually include sales figures. These can be found on the website of the Valdepeñas DOP up to 2018. More recent figures have not been published on the official pages. According to these figures, the DOP's bodegas sold a total of 48.3 million litres of wine in 2018, 21 million of which were sold abroad. That was about ten percent less than in 2013, both domestically and abroad. But was there really less sold?
That no figures are published for 2019 and 2020 could have a less honourable reason: No one knows how much wine the big bodegas really sold because a judge accuses four of the largest wineries of having sold considerably more than was officially stated. García Carrión, Navarro López, Felix Solís and Fernández Castro are named.
Internal sales figures, sales taxed at the tax office, and sales reported to the Consejo are inconsistently reported as three completely different figures – two of them apparently completely fabricated figures. Not only that, but the figures for different levels of qualities are probably even less reliable because the authorities also accuse the bodegas of having sold masses of Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva that did not have the required storage times – i.e. were not Crianza, Reserva or Gran Reserva at all.
Perhaps it is related to these events that the Consejo Regulador unadornedly states that the annual “Memoria”, a yearbook published for the general public on the activities of the Consejo with data on the region, is “not available”. Some of those involved accuse the Consejo of not having carried out strict-enough controls and thus making the suspected fraud possible in the first place.
Whether the Consejo will comment on this in its Memoria 2020 remains to be seen. The fact that the big companies have had enough economic influence for years to avoid too close scrutiny of their business by the Consejo, which is financed not least by them, is common knowledge. In fact, as a result of the affair, the Consejo is practically in the process of being dissolved. The agricultural cooperatives representing the grape growers have already left it. We will have to wait to see what will happen next.
Bodegas Vinartis are also confronted with accusations
Investigations initiated
After a long period of rumblings and mutual accusations, things began to move at the beginning of April. The Audiencia Nacional, the Spanish court of justice, opened an investigation into the four bodegas mentioned. Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva are said to have had neither the prescribed maturation time in total nor the prescribed maturation time in wooden barrels or bottles. The indications on the labels such as "Reserva" or "Gran Reserva" were therefore fraudulent. In addition, there is also suspicion of tax evasion, since the tax authorities were never informed of the quantities actually sold.
The investigation is accompanied by data published by the court and the tax authorities about the quantities sold of the respective wines in contrast to the quantities officially declared at the DOP in 2018.
Up to 19 times more sold
García Carrión, for example, is said to have sold three million litres of Gran Reserva to a single customer, which does not correspond to the taxed quantities (410,780 litres less) nor to those declared to the DOP (879,881 litres less). Similarly, for Bodegas Vinartis of the same group, the difference between declared and sold amounts is said to be 808,032 litres for Crianza and 226,683 litres for Reserva.
The tax authorities also found similar irregularities at the other three bodegas. Félix Solís is said to have sold 472,745 litres of Crianza and 146,706 litres of Reserva more than declared. In addition, there is said to be a difference of 752,234 litres of Reserva between the declared quantity and the quantity sold to six customers. The same applies to 7,842 litres of Gran Reserva.
Differences have also been found at Navarro López and Fernando Castro. Navarro López is said to have sold 90,187 litres more than declared. In the case of Fernando Castro, the authorities give percentage figures: For example, almost 14 times more Crianza than declared was sold to Alcampo and 19 times more Reserva. Similar figures apply to sales to Lilli Ott, Froiz SA and Victoriano Moldes Rubial.
Source: Consejo Regulador
Complaints arising from rivalries
The judge in charge, José Luis Calama, has authorised the police to investigate the years 2010 to 2019. If it turns out that the content of the bottles does not comply with the regulations on storage time, it would not only be a case of tax evasion, but also of document forgery and consumer fraud. It is also possible that customers will suffer damages and be eligible for compensation.
The affair began in 2017 with García Carrión's first complaint against colleagues. In 2019, the agricultural organisations Asaja, Upa and Coag, as well as cooperatives, reported irregularities to the Ciudad Real tax office. A few months later, García Carrión filed another complaint, without being able to prevent it from now becoming the focus of the authorities itself.
For the Minister of Agriculture of Castilla-La Mancha, Francisco Martínez Arroyo, the whole thing is an economic war between the large bodegas of the region, with the Consejo Regulador as the key element, because it did not manage the necessary checks. Many bottles had been sold without the necessary controls.
In May, García Carrión also attacked the regional minister of economy, pointing out that they themselves had already pointed out the non-compliance with the maturation period for Reserva and Gran Reserva in some bodegas in 2017 and again in 2019, but the regional government of Castilla-La Mancha had not taken action. In particular, nothing had been done about the inadequate control by the Consejo Regulador.
No fear of charges at first
In the meantime, the organisation Avival, an association of wine companies to which García Carrión also belongs, has filed a new complaint, according to which the counterfeiting has continued in 2019 despite charges having been filed.
Results on all the allegations are not yet available. It may take some time.
The events really did not surprise anyone who has been following for years the quantities of Reserva and Gran Reserva from some Spanish DOPs being thrown onto the market at ridiculous prices. The fact that the matter is in danger of being exposed in Valdepeñas does not mean that Gran Reservas from other growing regions for less than €3 deserve this name. Another hot candidate is Cariñena.
What is particularly bitter about the scandal in Valdepeñas is that the problem is by no means region-specific. Gran Reservas from Cariñena have long raised eyebrows / Credit: reto ilari halme photography
Wineries under pressure
The wineries concerned have more to lose than the region. On the German market for example, hardly any traders or customers are looking specifically for wine from Valdepeñas but find the region when looking for an inexpensive red from Spain that has a good-sounding quality level and can be advertised accordingly.
Or one looks for a supplier that is strong on the market, such as Felix Solís or García Carrión. Of course, the affair could still damage the region considerably if the sales of the accused large wineries collapse. Then thousands of winegrowers will no longer be able to sell their grapes.
The occurrences at the big marketers seem to be paralysing the region. Changes in supply or cultivation are hardly noticeable. The region’s viticultural structure remains surprisingly stable, even if a hint of movement from international varieties has come onto the scene.
The two grape varieties Tempranillo and Airén still share 90 percent of the cultivation. Syrah in particular has proven – as many producers confirm – to be quite a good alternative for the hot, dry climate. However, the winegrowers, many of whom are over 60 years old, no longer bother to uproot or transplant their old Airén vines, even though the white grape hardly yields sufficient income per hectare.
