As the wine market slows, the desire to travel directly to the places where it is produced grows. Tastings and winery tours are on the rise, family-run businesses are winning over wine tourists, and producers are once again taking center stage.

For Italian wineries, wine tourism is no longer just hospitality: it can become a lever for sales, positioning, and profitability.
There is an apparent paradox in the Italian wine of 2026 .

On the one hand, consumption is decreasing, exports are going through a difficult phase and many wineries are having to deal with high inventories, pressure on prices and a more cautious and selective consumer.

On the other hand, the number of people who want to enter the cellars, walk through the vineyards, meet the producers and understand where and how the wine is made is growing.

This is one of the most interesting signals emerging from the report “Italians and wine tourism experiences” , edited by Roberta Garibaldi in collaboration with Ascovilo – Association of Consortia for the Protection of Lombard Wines – and The Data Appeal Company.

The most significant fact concerns the size of the phenomenon.

In 2026, an estimated 18 million Italians will have had wine-related experiences during their travels.

In 2024 there were approximately 13.4 million.

This means that in just two years the potential audience for Italian wine tourism has increased by over 4.5 million people .

A fact that deserves to be read not only from a tourist point of view.

For the wine world it contains a much deeper message:

Italians may be drinking less wine, but they haven’t lost interest in it. They’re just changing the way they approach it.

Wine is being drunk less, but the desire to learn about it is growing

The transformation is particularly interesting because it is taking place just as the sector is discussing the structural reduction of consumption.

Wine is no longer necessarily the daily protagonist of the table as it was for previous generations.

But when it becomes territory, travel, gastronomy, storytelling, culture and meeting with the producer , it continues to exert a strong power of attraction.

The share of tourists who participated in agri-food experiences during their trips increased from 60% in 2021 to 77% in 2025 .

And among the places of production, it is precisely the wineries that lead the ranking: in 2025 they were visited by 40% of the interviewees , compared to 29% in 2021.

Behind them come dairies, breweries, olive oil companies, oil mills, chocolate factories and pasta factories.

Wine, therefore, maintains a privileged position within Italian food and wine tourism.

Tastings and winery visits are growing by double digits.

Even more significant is observing what wine tourists actually want to do.

Between 2024 and 2026 , in-cellar tastings increased from 49% to 64% , an increase of 15 percentage points.

Visits to wineries, on the other hand, grew from 32% to 46% , an increase of 14 points.

This is a very clear signal.

Before wine spas, yoga among the vineyards, trekking, e-bikes, or particularly sophisticated formats, visitors continue to search for what represents the very essence of wine tourism:

enter the cellar, see where the wine is born, taste it and meet the person who produces it.

Simplicity, when authentic and well-organized, can therefore have more value than spectacularization.

The surprise of 2026: the family winery wins

Probably the most interesting piece of information in the entire report concerns the type of company that tourists want to visit.

In 2026, the family-run winery , chosen by 27% of wine tourists, became the most popular specific experience for the first time.

It even surpasses buying wine directly from the winery at convenient prices, indicated by 25%.

Next comes lunch or dinner in a winery with a restaurant, with 24%, and the opportunity to taste gourmet dishes paired with company wines, chosen by 19%.

Another 19% appreciate cellars located inside historic homes.

This is a result that should give pause, especially to the thousands of small and medium-sized Italian wineries.

To compete in wine tourism, you don’t need to be a large winery, own a luxury resort, or invest millions of euros in hospitality .

In some cases, the exact opposite may be true.

The family dimension, the company’s history, and the ability to speak directly with the producer become distinctive elements.

What may seem small from an industrial perspective can become exclusive from a tourist perspective.

The producer returns to the center of the experience

The data also explains why.

64% of those interviewed consider wine tourism an opportunity for cultural enrichment , while 63% want to learn the history and anecdotes of the company and its wines.

The visitor, therefore, is not only looking for technical information.

He wants to know who planted that vineyard.

Because that family produces wine right there.

How the cellar has changed over the generations.

What is the relationship between a label and the territory it is visiting?

And this is where the producer plays a fundamental role.

The winemaker isn’t just the one who makes the wine. He becomes part of the perceived value of the wine itself.

A bottle tasted after having met the family who produced it rarely remains just a bottle.

It becomes the memory of an experience.

And it is precisely this step that can create loyalty.

The welcome is as good as the beauty of the cellar

The quality of the wine remains important, of course, but it is not enough.

When wine tourists are asked what would encourage them to return to a winery they have already visited, 68% indicate the hospitality and professionalism of the staff .

66% consider the ease of booking and organizing the visit important.

64% appreciate the possibility of finding something different from their previous experience.

These are extremely concrete indications.

A winery can have extraordinary vineyards, a historic building, and award-winning wines.

But if it takes three days to respond to a request for a visit, doesn’t allow easy booking, gives a cold welcome to visitors, or isn’t able to explain what it offers, it’s losing a significant part of its potential.

Wine tourism is first and foremost a culture of hospitality.

The smartphone has become the entrance door to the cellar

2026 also confirms another transformation that is now irreversible.

Before physically arriving at the company, the visitor almost always enters digitally .

Search for information.

See photos.

Check reviews.

Compare experiences.

Check the times.

Book.

Use your smartphone to reach the property.

The ease with which an experience can be found and booked therefore becomes an integral part of its quality.

And here an interesting apparent contrast emerges.

The more digital the pre-visit phase becomes, the more tourists seem to seek authenticity once they arrive at the winery.

Technology must therefore eliminate obstacles, not replace human relationships.

Digital first.

People, wine and territory after.

Local wine tourism is born

Another important fact concerns distance.

Geographic proximity is considered by 65% of respondents when choosing a wine tourism destination and by 63% when deciding which winery to visit.

So there’s more to the great journey to the Langhe, Tuscany, Mount Etna, or the Prosecco hills.

An interesting space is growing for what we can define as local wine tourism .

A visit to the winery can be organized over a day or weekend, without necessarily requiring a long stay.

For thousands of companies, this greatly expands the potential market.

The customer is not just the international tourist arriving from the other side of the world.

It could even be a family that lives a hundred kilometers away.

A couple looking for a weekend experience.

A group of friends.

A company that organizes a meeting.

Or an enthusiast who wants to learn more about the producers in their area.

The most popular destinations: Cinque Terre, followed by Salento and Chianti.

The geography of wine tourism desired by Italians is also interesting.

At the top of the list of destinations that those interviewed would like to visit is the Cinque Terre , indicated by 20%.

Salento follows with 19% and Chianti with 18%.

The Amalfi Coast and Etna also reach 18%, ahead of Montepulciano with 16%, Montalcino with 15% and Langhe-Barolo and Gallura with 14%.

Valdobbiadene and Vesuvio collect 13%, Franciacorta and Castelli Romani 12%, while Trento Doc, Monferrato and Valpolicella reach 11%.

The ranking contains an interesting indication.

Tourists do not necessarily choose a destination just because it produces great wine.

Look for an area where the wine can be inserted into a broader experience.

Wine alone is not enough: the territory wins

Landscape, gastronomy, culture, catering and hospitality therefore become part of the wine tourism product.

62% of those interviewed consider the presence of tourist services , including accommodation facilities and restaurants, to be important.

61% value the accessibility of the destination.

58% look at the breadth of the wine tourism offering.

When choosing a single winery, the quality and reputation of the wines gain weight, indicated by 60%, followed by outdoor experiences, also at 60%, and the opportunity to deepen one’s knowledge of wine, at 58%.

This means that the competition is no longer just winery against winery .

It also happens between territories .

A denomination capable of networking wineries, restaurants, accommodations, landscape, culture, services, and mobility has a competitive advantage that is difficult for a single company to replicate.