Winemakers Protest Highway Plan for Ribera del Duero
Opponents of a highway through the Spanish wine region say the increase in traffic will ultimately kill the quality of the wines
Proposed roadwork along the Ribera del Duero river in Spain has the region's winemakers up in arms. The N-122, a two-lane road that runs through the Duero Valley on the southern banks of the river from Valladolid to Soria, in the northwest of Spain, already carries thousands of vehicles daily, and winemakers argue that adding two more lanes, as proposed, would destroy 247 acres of vineyards and lower the annual harvest by approximately 2.2 million pounds of grapes per year.
The region's winemakers started a petition in November 2006, and their movement is picking up speed. Signatures of support passed the 2,000 mark this month, with some big names among them. Javier Ausás, winemaker at the iconic Vega Sicilia, has signed the petition, saying the road's expansion "will probably cause some wineries to close" if so much of their vineyard land is lost.
The Ribera del Duero is home to some of the finest Tempranillo-based wines in Spain, called Tinto Fino, locally, in an area of vineyards sometimes referred to as "Golden Mile."
The current working proposal, one of many considered by the Ministerio de Fomento (Ministry of Public Works), would expand the N-122 from two lanes to four and add an 8-foot-high border wall, at a cost of more than $222 million. The government would then join it with one large highway that will cross Spain from Catalonia to Portugal. The name of this new highway will be called the Autovía del Duero (A11) and has the support of the country's Ministry of the Environment.
Ángel Anocíbar, winemaker for Abadía Retuerta in the Ribera del Duero, believes the government should leave the N-122 alone and instead build the new A11 on the north bank of the Duero. "If this decision comes true, more than destroying many of the vineyards of the zone, it will cause changes in the area's microclimate," he said. "The wine-tourism projects starting up will be frustrated because the cars and heavy trucks will be more than 10,000 daily."
Abadía Retuerta, like many Ribera del Duero wineries, have their entrances directly connected to the N-122, which may become useless if the road is turned into a highway. As a highway, the road wouldn't have easy, turn-in access to the wineries, many of which have already added or are building new hotel rooms specifically for tourists driving along that route.
Wineries also use the N-122 for their vineyard tractors. If the project is completed, each winery will have to uproot more vines to build an internal system of roads for agricultural transport. Furthermore, A11 construction is estimated to take four years to complete, leaving nearly half a decade of traffic nightmares along the already packed highway.
In addition to winemakers, Fernando Lázaro, a wine writer for the Valladolid branch of El Mundo, has publicly expressed his frustration with the plans. "There are six or seven alternatives," he said, "and the chosen is the worst, environmentally speaking, destroying natural areas protected by the European Union."
Antonio Castrillo, mayor of Quintanilla de Onésimo, a sleepy providence near Valledolid with a population of just over 1,000, said he is all for connecting Spain by upgrading roads to better economic and social relationships between the autonomously governed Spanish Regions. But this case is different, he said.
"I think that we must put environmental protection and wine-sector development first," said Castrillo. The best way to do that, he said, is to build the road on the north side of the Duero. "This will permit the establishment of the old N-122 as a local road, being a wine route," thereby adding more charm to a region that has fought hard for its international reputation, he said. "Building up a motorway in the most sensitive area of the Ribera is real savagery. It is solving a problem, but giving us a much larger one," he added.
"Anyone who knows Duero Valley is concerned about its microclimate and its beauty," said Anocíbar, whose winery is also charting the progress of the proposition on its website blog and calling for people to sign the petition. "A motorway crossing this valley, being better alternative itineraries, will destroy the microclimate, the natural air flow, and will increase pollution, causing a big impact on its beautiful vineyard landscape."
A similar proposal in Margaux last year drew passionate outcry from that region's winemakers as well. But last week, the French government succumbed to the protest of area vintners and killed the project.
