Warehouse logistics for Spain’s wine industry

Spanish winemakers have access to the largest wine-growing region in the world – land that measures about 964,000 hectares – and that is more than 15 percent of the world’s overall surface area that is used for grapevines. 150 domestic varieties of grapes grow there with 97 protected designations of origin – the so-called “denominación de origen” (D.O.) – Cava sparkling wine from the Penedès wine region is just one example of this. This diversity not only excites sommeliers and gourmets from abroad: Spaniards themselves are passionate wine lovers and celebrate their drink in grand style. How? Numerous wine festivals take place all over the country – such as the “Fiestas de San Mateo en Logroño” – and wine celebrations have already been continuing at special ceremonies since the 12^th century. Wine is not only deeply rooted in Spanish people’s hearts culturally and traditionally, but it is also an enormously important industry for the country, employing about 428,000 people. According to Statista, Spain captured third position behind France and Italy in 2021 in terms of the amount produced by the leading wine-growing countries around the world – the figure in Spain was 35.3 million hectolitres. That is about 25 percent of the wine that is produced in Europe.

There are only a few other products, which are as sensitive and difficult to handle as wine when it comes to storage. Any change in temperature, air humidity or light can damage its taste, its aroma or its colour and therefore pose a risk to the painstaking work performed by the wine producer. The warehousing operations have to meet particular standards in order to prevent this. For instance, wine bottles should not be exposed to any direct light, and be stored in a horizontal position with as little vibration as possible. The air humidity should be between 60 and 80 percent and the temperature in the premises between 8 and 18 degrees Celsius.