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Issue 765 - December 22nd - 26th 2025 - Expressly created for 3699 wine lovers,
professionals and opinion leaders from all over the world | |
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| | | Among the pioneering wine appellations seeking new markets is Chianti DOCG, the largest and most popular of Tuscany’s red wines. For the first time, the Consorzio Vino Chianti is flying to Africa, to Nigeria: on January 27, 2026, the appellation will be the star of the show in Lagos, at the Civic Centre, at the Top Italian Wines Roadshow. The Consortium is setting off with a delegation of 13 companies and around 30 labels. In 2025, Italian wine imports by Nigeria are on the rise: in the first nine months, according to Istat data analyzed by WineNews, they are worth €3.54 million, up 118.5% on the same period in 2024 (in more detail). | |
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| | While Italian wine continues to lose ground in terms of exports in what was expected to be a difficult 2025, sparkling wines continue to be a determining factor and a source of stability for the sector, driven by the product with the most international appeal, Prosecco, which continues its positive trend. In the first nine months of 2025, according to Istat data analyzed by WineNews, Italian sparkling wines reached €1.67 billion in exports in value, not far from the record figure of 2024 (-0.5%). Volumes grew to 400.6 million liters (+2.19%), a sign that there is a demand for Italian sparkling wine around the world, but that, at the same time, prices are falling to meet market demands. Sparkling wines account for about 28% of Italian wine exports, more than a quarter of shipments. From January to September 2025, the United States, Italy’s leading trading partner, imported Italian sparkling wines worth €402.4 million, a figure that remained stable (+0.09) compared to the same period in 2024 (January-September). In the overall picture, it is impossible not to mention the importance of Prosecco PDO, which has long been the driving force behind Italian wine exports: exports of the iconic Italian sparkling wine from January to September 2025 totaled €1.29 billion (+0.5% over the same period in 2024), accounting for over 77% of total Italian sparkling wine exports and about 23% of wine exports in general. More than 1 in 5 bottles of Italian wine sold worldwide is Prosecco. This growth also affects volumes, which rose to 306 million liters (+4.8%) in the first 9 months of 2025 compared to January-September 2024. Prosecco continues to be successful in the US, the leading market, with growth in September 2025 on an annual basis (+3.5%) in value to €358.1 million. While there are some signs of fatigue in key markets such as the United Kingdom and Germany, with prices falling to maintain the competitiveness of the product, Italian sparkling wines, Prosecco in particular, are responding well to the “shocks” of the market. | |
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| | For Italian wineries, it is still not possible to compete on equal terms with their European and other competitors in the field of so-called dealcoholized wines. This is because the green light has not yet been given “by law”. And so, at the end of 2025, the Unione Italiana Vini (Uiv) is urging the closure of the dealcoholized dossier through the timely adoption of the interministerial decree of the Ministries of Economy and Agriculture implementing the tax regulations, which has been stalled for over two months at the State Accounting Office, as stated in a letter sent by Uiv to the two competent ministries (Agriculture and Economy). “Numerous Italian wineries”, reports Uiv, “have made significant investments both in infrastructure, through the purchase and installation of dealcoholization equipment, and in terms of training and product positioning on the market”. | |
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| | | Slightly down in volume, essentially stable in value: awaiting the end-of-year holidays, which are unlikely to work the miracle of reversing the trend, 2025 wine sales in large-scale retail will close down for the fifth consecutive time. This emerges from Circana’s summary data for the first 11 months of the year, for WineNews, according to which from January to November, among the shelves of Italian large-scale retailers (hypermarkets and supermarkets, discount stores, and small self-service stores), just over 552 million liters of wine were sold (-3% compared to the same period in 2024), for a total value of €2.05 billion (-0.4%), at an average price of €3.72 per liter (+2.7% on 2024). The category with the greatest impact was that of wines in the classic 0.75-liter bottle, which performed better than average in terms of volume (-1.8%, for 293.6 million liters) and generated a few euros more (€1.58 billion, +0.4%), with an average price per liter of €5.4 (+2.3% on 2024). “At the risk of repeating ourselves”, comments Virgilio Romano of Circana to WineNews, “socio-demographic factors are not helping, and the economic situation is prompting caution in purchasing, resulting in declining sales: the likely negative closure of 2025 should be seen as an acknowledgment that consumption is settling at levels different from the past”. | |
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| | | A pillar of Italian wine, Piedmont alone accounts for more than 14% of national exports (€553 million in the first six months of 2025, according to Istat data). And marking the first major event on the 2026 wine calendar will be “Grandi Langhe e il Piemonte del vino”, the 10th edition of the exhibition created on the initiative of the Consortia of Barolo and Barbaresco (led by Ettore Germano) and Roero (led by Massimo Damonte) and supported by the Piedmont Land of Wine Consortium (led by Francesco Monchiero), in Turin on January 26 and 27, with over 510 wineries. | |
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| | “The artist has an essential role, his mastery remains indispensable. However, this mastery will no longer be the preserve of famous artists, but will belong to all those who are able to engage not only in producing a work, but also in integrating creation into social coexistence”. These are the words of Michelangelo Pistoletto, a “giant” of contemporary art, who will be the honorary president - truly exceptional - of the jury of the “Vinitaly Design Award” (of which WineNews is also a member, with its editor Alessandro Regoli, ed.), dedicated to excellence in packaging for wine, spirits, beer, and oil. The award celebrates its 30th edition (April 11 at the Teatro Ristori in Verona, on the eve of Vinitaly 2026), reaffirming, through the great artist's view of the aesthetics of wine, the role of design as a cultural language and a form of responsibility towards the future. | |
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| | In an increasingly close partnership with the world of art and Italian cultural heritage, wine rewards the exhibition of the year in Italy: it is the major exhibition “Caravaggio” 2025, which was one of the most significant cultural events of the 2025 Jubilee, and whose curator, Thomas Clement Salomon, director of the National Galleries of Ancient Art, recently received the 12th edition of the “Villa della Torre L’Arte di Mostrare l’Arte” award, created by producer Marilisa Allegrini, at the Renaissance Villa Della Torre in Fumane, Valpolicella. | |
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