The inspector of the Graf Bombers de la Generalitat's Gaf, Marc Castellnou, and the sommelier of Celler de Can Roca, Josep Roca, will hold the opening session with a conversation about the role of the vineyard and wine to curb the threat of large forest fires.

The objective of Fire Wine-Vins de Foc is is to provide forest estates located in wine-growing territories with tools and models that stimulate the creation of landscapes prepared to prevent and, failing that, to recover and reduce the losses caused by fires.

Fire Wine is an initiative that is part of the European project FIRE-RES of technological innovation for the promotion of resistant and resilient landscapes to forest fires promoted by the Forest Science and Technology Center of Catalonia-CTFC.

THE VINSEUM OF VILAFRANCA DEL PENEDÉS WILL HOST ON TUESDAY 17 OCTOBER AN INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR PRESENTING THE EUROPEAN FIRE WINE PROJECT: HOW CAN THE WINE SECTOR CONTRIBUTE TO THE RESILIENCE OF THE LANDSCAPE IN THE FACE OF FOREST FIRES?

Fire Wine-Vins de Foc is an initiative that is part of the European FIRE-RES project of technological innovation for the promotion of resistant and resilient landscapes and the prevention of forest fires. The aim of Fire Wine-Vins de Foc is to provide forest estates located in wine-growing territories with tools and models that stimulate the creation of landscapes prepared to prevent and, failing that, to recover and reduce the losses caused by fires .

The idea was born in Catalonia, promoted by the Forest Science and Technology Center of Catalonia-CTFC, with the intention of spreading to the rest of the European territory and envisages the development of a brand and a label to distinguish the wineries involved in the improvement of forest management models. The Fire Wine project is working on the construction of a network of wineries from different territories of the European Union so that they can be involved in this common goal. So far, wineries from Catalonia, the rest of Spain, France, Portugal and Italy have joined.

The Fire Wine-Vins de Foc network

The Fire Wine network works with the desire to share successful experiences that improve quality standards and produce models that respect the landscape, biodiversity and the resilience of the environment. These models often prove to be the best option in the fight to curb the consequences of climate change.

The network already has the membership of wineries from:

CATALONIA (DO Empordà, DOQ Priorat, DO Montsant, DO Pla de Bages, DO Penedès, MCUE Corpinnat)
GALICIA
CANARY
FRANCE
ITALY
PORTUGAL

Global context of large forest fires

In Greece, in the summer of 2023, around eighty forest fires have caused the death of around thirty people, more than eighty injuries and the destruction of hundreds of houses. They are the so-called megafires or fires of the sixth and seventh generation, with a high and fast destructive power and which exceed the capacity of the extinguishing services. Fires stimulated by the effects of climate change and by the progressive abandonment of agricultural, livestock and forestry activity that has left a fragile landscape available for burning.

Faced with this climate emergency and global threat, a window of opportunity is opening to propose real solutions to deal with this problem. Solutions that necessarily go through measures and initiatives that allow us to build fire-resistant and resilient landscapes.

In this context, therefore, the wine sector acquires a significant importance to create an opportunity to prevent these large forest fires. The vines, in themselves, become one of the most effective natural fire barriers. We must be able to motivate and involve winegrowers in this fight against fire. This means helping them manage the forest pieces located in their vineyards and providing them with tools and models that stimulate the creation of resistant and resilient landscapes. That they can share experiences and projects aimed at reducing and making profitable the forest mass available for burning. In Europe there are already some experiences in this sense and it is necessary to know them, improve them and export them.

The effort required of the wineries must necessarily be made visible to the final consumer, which is why the project envisages the development of a brand and a label to distinguish the wineries involved in the improvement of forest management models.