Italian wine is going through a complex phase, marked by declining consumption, pressure on exports, rising costs, and severe market selection.
2025 also put large groups under stress: among the main companies with revenues above 100 million euros, the majority closed the year with declining turnover.
The data confirms that the difficulty no longer concerns only small wineries, but the entire system.
The economic picture shows a market in defensive mode. Exports and domestic sales are slowing, large-scale retail trade is pushing promotions, and consumer wine prices are still declining, at a 2.1% annual rate. This signals a more fragile, selective demand that is less willing to absorb price increases, despite the higher production, logistics, and energy costs borne by businesses.
On the international front, Italian wine is facing renewed tensions. Exports in 2026 got off to a slow start, with a sharp decline in January and a particularly severe decline to the United States. Added to this are the geopolitical challenges related to the Middle East and the Strait of Hormuz: according to the UIV (Italian Wine and Spirits Association), orders in approximately twenty markets, with an estimated annual value of around €80 million, have been blocked. The impact also affects transportation, dry raw materials, tourism, and wine tourism.
In this scenario, the sector’s response increasingly relies on managerial skills, expertise, and digitalization. Italian wine companies are challenged to better manage margins, markets, price lists, distribution, and sales data. CRM, business intelligence, cost control, forecasting, and digital tools are no longer ancillary elements, but essential infrastructures to remain competitive.
Premiumization remains a viable option, but with a clear limit: the market rewards quality only if the price remains consistent and accessible. Consumers are drinking less, but are seeking greater value, authenticity, sustainability, and transparency. The way restaurants consume wine is changing: fewer full bottles, more glasses, greater attention to price, a growth in no- and low-alcohol options, and competition from mixology.
Despite the challenges, Italian vineyards remain solid and attractive alternative assets for investors, HNWIs, and family offices. Suitable areas, with reputation, water availability, good exposure, climate resilience, and wine tourism potential, continue to represent a long-term investment. The vineyard is no longer just an agricultural asset, but a business platform that integrates production, brand, territory, hospitality, and direct sales.
Wine tourism remains one of the most important levers for the future. With millions of visitors and billions in value generated, hospitality at the winery has become an integral part of the business model. The most advanced companies sell not just wine, but experiences, identity, culture, and a connection with the local area.
At the public level, the new CMO Wine 2026-2027 call for proposals, with over €98 million earmarked for international promotion, represents a strategic tool to support exports and foster market diversification. In a time of significant uncertainty, anticipating planning and strengthening presence in third countries is crucial.
Finally, the topic of responsible consumption enters the debate forcefully. Data on binge drinking, drinking outside of mealtimes, and abuse among young people show that the problem isn’t wine itself, but how it’s consumed. The industry must move beyond defensive positions and contribute to a culture of conscious consumption, clearly distinguishing between use and abuse.
The week of April 20-24, 2026, confirms a complex picture: changing consumption, declining exports, unstable international markets, but also new opportunities related to quality, leadership, wine tourism, organics, sustainability, premiumization, and new sales channels.
Italian wine is entering a phase of intense selection.
The central message is clear: the sector can no longer grow simply by increasing bottles and volumes. It must produce less and better, strengthen brand value, address niche markets, better understand consumers, and build more structured businesses.
Female leadership: stronger and more future-oriented companies
One of the most significant findings comes from the research presented at Vinitaly on the role of women in the governance of wineries. Women-led businesses display more advanced organizational models, with clear roles, greater delegation capacity, long-term planning, and a focus on human capital.
Over 75% of those interviewed cite sustainability as a priority, approximately 70% consider the local area a strategic asset, and over 80% adopt a long-term vision. Female leadership therefore appears not just a matter of representation, but a concrete lever for corporate effectiveness.
However, the issue of access to top management roles remains unresolved, especially in the cooperative world, where the female presence in leadership positions is still limited.
Exports in difficulty: January 2026 starts in the red
The most worrying data concerns exports. In January 2026, Italian wine recorded an 18.7% decline in value, stopping at approximately €470 million, with volumes down 13.3%.
The decline is particularly severe in the United States, where exports fell by 35.2% in value. Germany, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Belgium, and Sweden also fared poorly. Japan and France held up better, while positive signs came from Russia, Brazil, and China, albeit from even more modest bases.
The decline is also influenced by the rush to purchase in 2025 to anticipate American tariffs, but the signal remains strong: exports are no longer an automatic driver of growth.
The new recipe: less volume, more value
From the Vinitaly discussions, a shared vision emerges: the future lies in a more limited, more qualified offering with greater added value.
Italy still sells a relatively small share of premium wines. Increasing this share from at least 17% to 20% would already be a significant step towards protecting value and margins. The key, therefore, is selection: less quantity, more identity, better positioning.
Companies will also need to better understand markets. “Exporting” is no longer enough: they need to understand people, cultures, consumer communities, and niches. In the United States, for example, Italian wine is still highly concentrated in the Northeast, while segments such as Hispanic communities and the new multicultural America remain to be explored.
Wine tourism: the winery sells experience and bottles
Wine tourism continues to be a key driver. In 2025, 77.4% of winery visitors purchased wine after their experience. The average receipt was €147, with approximately 7.3 bottles purchased.
This data illustrates a crucial shift: the winery is no longer just a production site, but a space for sales, relationships, and storytelling. Experience builds trust, strengthens the brand, and encourages direct sales.
E-commerce is also interesting: the average online order rises to €197.90, despite fewer bottles purchased. Foreigners spend significantly more than Italians, averaging €317 versus €159.90.
Organic: Italy leads the world
Italy confirms an important record: a quarter of the world’s organic vineyards are located in our country. The organic vineyard area exceeds 132,000 hectares, almost double the amount of ten years ago, with approximately 3 million hectoliters of organic wine produced each year.
Organic farming offers a competitive advantage, but requires clear rules and effective pest management tools. Copper remains a key issue: without equally reliable alternatives, organic viticulture would face significant operational challenges.
No-Lo, Asia and new consumption
There’s growing interest in No-Lo wines, meaning those with low or no alcohol content. The segment is already worth $2.4 billion and could reach $3.3 billion by 2028. Even in Italy, some companies are starting to believe in it, while awaiting definitive regulatory clarification.
At the same time, Italian wine is increasingly interested in Asian cuisines. India, China, and Japan represent markets and gastronomic cultures that must be addressed with communication, education, and targeted pairings. It’s no longer enough to simply link Italian wine to Italian cuisine: it needs to be made credible alongside the world’s great cuisines.
Digital Consumers: Sustainability, Experience, and Identity
The PwC Italia and Meregalli Group analysis of digital consumers confirms some key trends. Wine is associated with territoriality, conviviality, sustainability, quality, and pairing with food.
Traditional channels still account for 70% of the total, while online accounts for about 30%. Online shoppers are looking for experience, loyalty, variety, and sustainability. Price matters less than you might think: only 10% cite promotions and discounts as the main factor.
This means that the consumer must not be pursued only with offers, but engaged with content, relationships, belonging and services.
Large groups and the aggregation phase
2025 also saw a slowdown among large operators. The sector with revenues above €100 million is worth €5.9 billion, equal to 42% of the national value, but many groups have seen a decline.
Cooperatives remain crucial, with a turnover of €2.7 billion and approximately 100,000 winemakers involved, but here too there is a need to increase value, strengthen distribution, focus on premium segments, and improve governance.
Looking ahead, mergers, alliances, acquisitions, and direct market presence will become increasingly important tools.
The Italian wine world enters winter 2025 with a complex picture, one of light and shade, featuring divergent market dynamics, international tensions, and signs of industrial resilience.
The sector is undergoing a profound transformation: consumption is changing, export geographies are reconfiguring, Prosecco continues to drive growth, while companies seek new balances between production, cost management, and strategic repositioning.
The global bubble race: Prosecco remains the driving force of Italian wine.
Del Rey Analysts’ snapshot confirms that sparkling wines remain the most dynamic axis on the global scene, with a turnover of 8.5 billion euros , despite a physiological slowdown in volumes.
Italy dominates in terms of quantity: 519 million liters exported , equal to almost half the world’s volume, and a value of €2.4 billion . The epicenter is Prosecco, which has seen exports grow 276% over the last 16 years, surpassing Champagne and Cava in growth dynamics, thanks to three key elements: taste, image, and distribution capacity.
On the price front, Italy has shown a 64% increase since 2009, higher than France and Spain, although it remains far from the value per litre of Champagne.
This week confirms one fact: Prosecco’s strength comes not from its price, nor from a technological advantage, but from its ability to interpret the desires of the contemporary consumer. It’s a global case study.
Luxury wine and spirits: a contraction in 2025, with few exceptions
The high-end segment is going through a delicate phase.
According to the Altagamma Observatory, luxury wines and spirits are expected to decline by 5% in 2025, penalized by more selective consumption, high prices, a slow pace of growth in the Chinese market, and a lower propensity to spend among those under 40.
Under pressure:
- premium spirits (-4/-6%)
- Cognac in decline
- high-end still wines
Going against the trend:
- French bubbles , driven by hedonistic consumption
- Italian reds , which resist thanks to the strength of their identity and origin
- rosé , increasingly in demand in international fine dining
A timid recovery is expected in 2026 (5%), but it remains a market phase where perceived value, experience and authenticity weigh more than the brand alone.
Italian exports amid global tensions and new growth paths
The Federvini Observatory confirms a phase of “realignment” of global flows, with Italian wine which, although slowing down, is holding up better than its French and Chilean competitors .
The US picture is the most critical part:
- wine: –4.8%
- spirits: –5%
- last quarter: –23% , combined effect of tariffs and drop in purchasing power
To compensate, new trajectories arrive:
- Germany 8.8%
- Brazil 8.7%
- Italian spirits boom in China : 94%
The sector is moving from “habitual” consumption to “choice” consumption: less frequent, more perceived value.
Domestic consumption: few certainties but signs of liveliness
In Italy, demand remains cautious, but the search for quality is growing.
The large-scale retail trade records:
- DOP IGP wine: 0.9%
- Total PDO and PGI products: 1.1%
The towing are:
- bubbles
- alcoholic aperitifs
- premium vinegars
No-low and ready-to-drink products continue to expand their reach, especially in urban consumption and among Gen Z and Millennials.
Bulk wine: a surprising segment
The World Bulk Wine Exhibition highlights an unexpected phenomenon:
Loose holds up better than bottled.
Exports fell by only 0.3% in value , while bottled wine recorded a 3.1% decline. Varietals and no/low-alcohol products are growing, driven by technological innovation in dealcoholization and the demand for flexible formats (cans, bag-in-box, RTD).
The bulk wine sector accounts for over a third of global volumes and will become increasingly strategic in the coming years.
Italy: High inventory levels and Prosecco tops the list
As of October 31st, Italian wineries recorded:
- 73 million hectoliters of total wine products
- 44.5 million wine
- 14.3 million musts
Inventories are growing (5.2% over 2024), a signal to monitor in a slow market context.
The most stocked wine in Italy is Prosecco Dop with 4.2 million hl .
Veneto dominates, followed by Emilia Romagna, Tuscany and Puglia.
Wine Companies in the “Perfect Storm”: Who’s Resisting and Why?
The Management DiVino study photographs a sector affected by structural criticalities:
- drop in consumption
- demographic changes
- fragmentation
- cost pressures
Resilience emerges from those who:
- innovate in the business model
- aggregates skills
- invests in wine tourism
- diversify products and markets
The “asset strong / asset light” dualism is no longer a dogma.
Hybrid models, capable of commercial flexibility and territorial roots, are winning.
Sparkling wines sold in 2024 surpass 1 billion bottles
Despite a difficult 2023 harvest, Italy surpassed a historic milestone. Prosecco DOC (8%), Asolo (20%), Pignoletto, and Lambrusco rosé all grew. Piedmont, Lombardy, and Trentino suffered.
The country remains a “Charmat republic”: 96% of the sparkling wines are produced in autoclaves.
DOP Economy: A Pillar of Italian Competitiveness
The ISMEA-QUALITY 2025 Report certifies a healthy sector:
- 20.7 billion production value
- DOP/IGP wine stable at 11 billion
- export: 7.19 billion (5.2%)
The Northeast remains the driving force, with Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, and Friuli experiencing strong growth.
Tariffs, the US crisis and the need for extraordinary measures
UIV calls for urgent intervention:
Between July and September, the average price of Italian wine destined for the USA dropped by 15.5% , an unsustainable self-taxation.
The Government is allocating €100 million annually from 2026 to 2028 to promote and internationalize its business.
The US case: an empire in difficulty
Napa and Sonoma are experiencing their toughest crisis since Prohibition:
- consumption down
- young people far from wine
- 30% of the grapes not sold
- Canada lost due to tariffs
A global warning about the end of the expansion cycle of traditional premium wine.
Conclusion: a sector that is changing its skin
The week of December 1–5, 2025 shows an Italy of wine going through a historic transition:
lower volumes, more competition, unstable markets, new languages of consumption.
But also a supply chain that doesn’t retreat: it innovates, resists, adapts, and finds new ways to create value.
The future will not only be written in the vineyards, but in strategic choices: innovation, positioning, aggregation, global market presence, and the ability to interpret a demand that changes faster than supply.
A continuous movement, like a grape harvest that never stops.
Between global leadership, slowing consumption and the need to “work as a system”.
1. A sector still central to Made in Italy
In the week of November 17-21, 2025, the picture emerging from industry meetings, data from Nomisma, ICQRF, OIV, UIV, Confcooperative, and the 2024 financial statements reports is clear:
- Wine remains one of the strategic assets of Made in Italy :
- 30,000 processing companies
- 240,000 agricultural companies
- 74,000 employed
- 16 billion euros in turnover , equal to 9% of the national food and beverage sector
- Exports 2024 at 8.1 billion euros , 14% of agri-food exports:
- Italy is the world’s leading exporter by volume
- 2nd in value , behind France
- From 2014 to 2024, exports went from less than 5 billion to 8.1: a doubling in ten years , despite crises, wars, inflation and the “health wave”.
In 2025, however, the wind has become more complex: in the first 7 months of the year, exports fell by 0.9% , in a context marked by new US duties (15%) , an unfavourable euro/dollar exchange rate and slowing consumption in all the main producing countries.
2. Markets and tariffs: stronger than ever, but more vulnerable
The picture on the markets is twofold: structural strength and cyclical vulnerability.
- United States
- First market for Italian wine: almost 2 billion euros in 2024 (10.2%)
- From 2025 burdened by 15% duties on imports from the EU:
- Actual effects postponed to 2026 price lists , because companies have brought forward shipments to build up stocks
- Risk that the competitive advantage goes to local American producers
- Diversification in progress :
- Canada (15.3%) , Russia (40%) , South America, Eastern Europe, Asia are growing
- Wine e-commerce is estimated to be worth $6.7 billion globally in 2025.
- Geopolitics and global tariffs :
- United States, Canada, China: strong volatility, with a collapse in exports for American producers and indirect impacts for Italy
- The EU is working on a “Wine Package” and new agreements (Mercosur, India, Asia), with more funds for promotion (up to 80% co-financed)
The underlying message: the US market is irreplaceable, but no longer sufficient. 2026 will be a “year of review” for reorientation strategies.
3. Consumption: less wine, more quality, more bubbles
On the internal front the signs are structural:
- Total consumption in long-term decline
- From 1995 to today: -30% , to approximately 23 million hectolitres
- Production, however, remains around 46–47 million hectolitres : half of the wine produced goes abroad.
- Change the mix:
- Sparkling wines account for 15.2% of consumption (almost doubled since 2010)
- Whites remain at 39.6% (stable)
- Rossi drops to 37.3% (from 43.9% in 2010)
- The consumer changes:
- Fewer “everyday consumers” (from 55% in 2008 to 40% in 2023)
- More attention to quality, sustainability, moderation, freshness, lower alcohol content
- No/low alcohol segment expected to grow strongly (20% expected by 2029)
In short: Italians drink less, but better , and this pushes companies towards higher positioning, but also towards new products.
4. Cellar stock: more still wine, more pressure on prices
The ICQRF report as of October 31, 2025, shows a system heavily loaded with products:
- 44.5 million hectoliters of wine in stock
- 14.3 million hectoliters of must
- 14.3 million hectoliters of VNAIF (new wine still fermenting)
- Compared to October 31, 2024:
- Wine: 5.2%
- Musts: 6.9%
- VNAIF: 6.2%
- 62.1% of the wine is from the North , primarily Veneto
- Inventory structure:
- 55.7% DOP
- 25.3% PGI
- 1.5% varietals
- 17.6% other wines
- Very high concentration : 20 denominations out of 526 make up 58.9% of the GI stocks
This backlog of inventories, while consumption slows, is one of the strongest pressures on prices and margins, especially for smaller companies.
5. 2024 Financial Statements: Turnover Grows, But Almost Half of Companies Lose Margins
The report by Studio Impresa – Management DiVino and Corriere Vinicolo (877 companies, revenues >1 million) offers a very clear economic x-ray:
- Average result 2024
- Revenues: 2% on 2023 (0.7% net of inflation)
- Average EBITDA at 10.5% (7.4%)
- But 415 out of 877 companies are losing profitability : the sector is growing, but not “for everyone”.
The key factor is the size of the company :
- Big >50 million euros
- Only 6.27% of the sample
- They generate more than half of the 13.4 billion in revenues analyzed
- Revenues in the three-year period 2022–2024: 8.4%
- EBITDA growing (4.9%)
- 20–50 million
- Revenues: 4.5% in the three-year period
- EBITDA: substantially stable (-1.2%)
- 10–20 million
- Revenues: -9.9% in the three-year period
- EBITDA: 9.1% (those who were able to react restructured)
- Under 10 million
- 71% of the sample, but only 17% of the sector’s revenues
- EBITDA in sharp decline:
- <5 million: -16.4%
- 5–10 million: -6.4%
Clear message: “Small is beautiful” can no longer withstand global competition . We need larger scale, managerial skills, efficiency, and aggregations .
At the regional level:
- Veneto : first region for revenue volumes ( 4.35% in 2023 ), but only 13th for profitability (EBITDA 8.72%)
- Tuscany, Lombardy, and Piedmont lead the generation of value:
- Franciacorta (Brescia) EBITDA at 21.68%
- Bolgheri (Livorno) even at 53.75%
6. Brand positioning, high-end and wine tourism
Despite the tensions, the “Italian wine” brand is holding up very well:
- Top of the range
- The “Italy 100” index remains slightly positive (0.6%)
- Italy wins 138 medals and six “Best in Show” awards at the Decanter Awards.
- 20 Italian wines enter the Wine Spectator 2025 Top 100 , with a strong presence from Tuscany (10 labels), Chianti Classico at the forefront and Barbaresco/Barolo consolidating the Piedmontese prestige
- Champagne in Italy
- Imports 1st half 2025: -10.5% in value , -10.3% in volume
- Main reason: lower spending power and lower economic confidence among consumers
- Potential space for Italian classic method and national sparkling wines with a better quality/price ratio
- Wine tourism
- 3 billion euros of expenditure
- Over 15 million visitors (11%)
- Very strong propensity to purchase directly from the cellar
- Emerging areas are also growing (e.g. Badesi in Sardinia: 18% )
- The winery experience is becoming increasingly immersive and digital , increasing the value of the brand-territory
7. Productive structure: wealth, fragmentation, dependencies
From a structural point of view:
- Extremely high biodiversity
- The top 10 grape varieties represent only 38% of the total , compared to 80% in Australia and 71% in France.
- 409 DOP and 118 IGP products: a wealth of identity, but complex communication and marketing.
- Entrepreneurial fragmentation
- 124,000 agricultural companies in the supply chain
- The top 100 companies cover between 46 and 55% of the turnover
- Prosecco Addiction
- Prosecco represents approximately a quarter of Italian bottled exports
- Competitive advantage today, but also risk of concentration tomorrow
8. Major cross-cutting trends: climate, AI, regulation, young people
The structural challenges facing the sector:
- Climate change
- It impacts yields, harvest calendar, production geographies
- It pushes towards new altitudes and territories, new styles (fresher, less alcoholic)
- Increased disease and pest pressure; calls for investment in R&D and new molecules
- Technological Innovation and Artificial Intelligence
- Digital tools for:
- vineyard management (drones, sensors, precision agriculture)
- logistics efficiency and lightweight packaging
- CRM, marketing and direct-to-consumer channels
- Digital tools for:
- European regulation and CAP
- “Wine Package” in preparation, with more flexibility to rebalance production/market
- Debate on uprooting vs. plant blocking
- Risk of cuts to the CAP post-2027 and a “Single Fund” that renationalizes choices
- Fiction about wine and health
- Risk of demonization at international level
- Push for campaigns on conscious consumption , on the cultural and territorial role of wine
- Young consumers
- Generation Z less tied to traditional consumption
- They require authenticity, transparency, sustainability, less “courtly” languages and closer to their cultural codes
9. Strategic indications emerged during the week
From the various tables (Leonardo Committee, UIV, Confcooperative, Nomisma, institutions) some lines of direction converge:
- Making a system
- Coordinate companies, consortia, cooperatives, institutions, ICE, SACE, SIMEST, and trade fairs (Vinitaly).
- Using embassies and Italian restaurant networks around the world as brand multipliers
- Strengthen the structure of companies
- Support aggregations, business networks, mergers and partnerships
- Bringing managerial skills and data analysis to SMEs
- Moving from “small is beautiful” to “small but connected, structured and integrated”
- Manage stock, value and product range
- Manage inventories, avoiding price wars
- Push for premiumization, DOP, experiences, wine tourism
- Diversify beyond Prosecco, promoting classic method, local whites, distinctive reds, credible no/low alcohol wines
- Defending and relaunching the internal market
- Less elitist, clearer communication, consistent with contemporary lifestyles
- Educate towards moderate but qualified consumption
- Bringing young people closer together with new languages, formats and consumption opportunities
- Supporting exports and emerging markets
- Don’t give up on the USA, but open up South America, India, Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe
- Making the most of the new EU co-financed promotion programmes
10. Final summary: a giant in transformation
Italian wine, in this week at the end of November 2025, presents itself as a giant in transition :
- Stronger than ever in terms of reputation, biodiversity, market presence, and ability to create value in districts of excellence.
- More exposed than ever to external shocks: tariffs, climate, currency dynamics, changing consumption, European policies.
- More selective than ever within itself: large companies are running, small and medium-sized ones are struggling to maintain margins and competitiveness.
The common thread that unites data, conferences, and the positions of the protagonists is simple and challenging:
The future of Italian wine will depend on the ability to innovate without losing its identity, to grow in size and expertise, and to transform crises into opportunities to realign production, markets, and perceived value.