‘Wine Strategy 2010’ is the project whereby Spain will seek to secure a leading position in the wine market worldwide by means of a comprehensive, global and resource-pooling approach based on four key axes: increasing competitiveness, professionalism, guiding consumer demand and promoting the development of wine-related enterprise both at home and abroad.

The document that is to serve as a basis for the strategy’s implementation was drafted by the Ministry for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA) in close cooperation with wine sector representatives and the relevant regional authorities. The scheme is to be applied in coordination across Spain, promoting both a national, regional and brand image.

In order to achieve these objectives, the ‘Wine Strategy 2010’ provides for the establishment of an Observatory on trends in the international wine and grape products market, which will provide the necessary insight on the sector for the various administrations to plan their actions and obtain the best results from the opportunities that arise in different markets.

The Plan will include actions designed to shed light on consumer trends in terms of bottle designs, formats, tasting profile, etc. It will also support campaigns to help foreign markets become familiar with Spain’s wines and to develop new channels in the hotel and restaurant sector, such as serving wines by the glass.

With this strategy, funded with € 133 m over four years, the MAPA intends to bolster Spanish wine businesses’ competitive advantage and scope, support internationalisation, develop intangibles (such as brand image or patents), improve sales and logistics, favour integrated projects and attract investment in R&D.

Strategic objectives also include promoting the use of new technologies and corporate communications, establishing a common traceability system for all wine market operators, adjusting production to market demand and unifying criteria across the sector.

Currently Spain is the world’s leader in terms of surface area under vines, as well as the world’s third exporter and fifth consumer.