Wine-making cooperatives are organizations where multiple grape growers or wine producers pool resources to make, process, market, and sell wine collectively. Approximately 1,600 cooperatives, collectively owned by approximately half a million producers with an average holding of around three hectares, produce one bottle out of every four of the wine on this planet. These are businesses that are almost completely unmentioned in the wine media.
French wine cooperatives are a major part of France’s wine industry, especially among small and medium-sized grape growers. They are usually known as caves coopératives or caves coopératives viticoles. Typical examples are:
- Anne de Joyeuse — a major cooperative in Limoux, Languedoc, producing wines from the Limoux appellation and surrounding areas.
- Les Vignerons de Buzet — based in southwest France and strongly associated with the Buzet appellation.
- Vignerons de Saint-Romain — represents growers in the Rhône Valley.
- Vignerons Catalans — a large cooperative organization in Roussillon.
- Val d'Orbieu — historically one of the largest cooperative wine groups in the Languedoc.
Other main European producing areas where cooperative wineries are in full flow include:
| Country | Cooperative Type | Main Producing Areas |
|---|---|---|
| Italy | Cantine sociali / cooperative wineries | Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Sicily, Trentino-Alto Adige |
| Spain | Bodegas cooperativas | Castilla-La Mancha, Rioja, Catalonia, Valencia, Andalucía |
| Portugal | Cooperative wineries | Alentejo, Douro, Dão, Bairrada |
| Germany | Winzer / cooperative wineries | Baden, Württemberg, Mosel, Franconia |
| Austria | Grower and winery cooperatives | Lower Austria, Burgenland, Styria |
| Greece | Agricultural / wine cooperatives | Nemea, Santorini, Crete, Macedonia |
| Hungary | Producer cooperatives and associations | Tokaj, Eger, Villány |
| Romania | Producer / agricultural cooperatives | Moldova, Dealu Mare, Transylvania |
