Vinitaly 2026
Italian wine is learning lessons…
🟥 Louis Thomas /
THE DRINK BUSINESS
Approximately 90,000 attendees, 26% of whom were international visitors, flocked to Verona for Vinitaly 2026. With producers, co-operatives and consorzi from every Italian region present, the show presented a wine sector in flux, with many of the old certainties and ways of thinking being replaced with fresh ideas and approaches. Some of the challenges of recent years – tariffs and falling alcohol consumption – have not changed, but possible solutions to these crises are emerging.
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Active lifestyle
Italian wine is learning lessons from the marketing success of the spirits sector and using brand activations as a means of promotion.
One example which takes the idea of this to new heights is the Consorzio Vini Alto Adige’s partnership with the airline SkyAlps. The collaboration involves the wines of 48 producers from Italy’s northernmost region being served on SkyAlps flights, which fly from London Gatwick to Bolzano (the regional capital) three times a week.
Through the deal, passengers also have the option to check in six bottles of Alto Adige wine on their return flight at no added cost. Given that Alto Adige is a popular destination for skiers in the winter and hikers and mountain bikers in the summer, this is one way of combining wine with sports tourism.
“We are very open to these partnerships, it’s a great match,” commented consorzio director Eduard Bernhart.
In order to raise brand awareness it is important to understand the target customer for a product, and Italian wine powerhouse Argea has done exactly that with the launch of its new metodo classico from Piemontese sparkling producer Cuvage.
Called Cuvage de Cuvage SQ Metodo Classico Brut, this brut blanc de blancs is aimed at a more affluent wine drinker and so the marketing has followed suit with Cuvage-branded golf club bags, towels, yachting cushions and even lip balm for skiers.
Giacomo Tarquini, group marketing director for Argea, said of the new release and its accompanying brand activations: “It is something that is meant to be enjoyed by the glass. It’s perfect for the restaurants and bars at tennis clubs, golf clubs, yacht clubs. It brings a freshness to wine marketing. We have to use some good strategies from spirits for our business, especially for brand activation.”
Born again blanc de noirs
One Italian region which has been going through a remarkable transition in recent years is Oltrepò Pavese, in the west of Lombardy. Although it has a long history of traditional method sparkling, the latter half of the 20th century saw Oltrepò Pavese move towards an approach of mass quantity over quality, and the reputation of its wines suffered as a result.
However, thanks to new investment and a new director of the Consorzio Tutela Vini Oltrepò Pavese, Riccardo Binda, who previously worked for the Consorzio Bolgheri DOC, it is turning a corner.
At this year’s Vinitaly the consorzio officially launched a new category for its sparkling wines, Classese. Requirements include a minimum of 85% Pinot Noir in the blend (with the remainder being Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc and/or Meunier) and a minimum period of ageing on the lees of 24 months (36 for vintage wines, 48 for reserve expressions).
There are also now four recognised Menzione Geografica Aggiuntiva (MGA) subzones – the V ersa, Scuropasso, Coppa and Staffora valleys.
The term ‘Classese’, a portmanteau of ‘classico’ and ‘Pavese’, is not new, with the Associazione Produttori del Classese being formed in 1984 to promote traditional method blanc de noirs sparkling from the region.
“The issue was that it was too ahead of the curve, as at the time [in the 1980s] the region was focused on bulk production, so no one was interested. But those times are long gone, better late to change than never,” remarked Binda.
For Binda, the formal introduction of the Classese classification is not about revolution, but restoration: “We’ve been doing this for 160 years, it’s not something that we just came up with. 1865 was the first Italian metodo classico from Carlo Gancia. We have a long heritage of this.”
Asti’s new colour
Just over the border from Oltrepò Pavese there are also new developments for sparkling wine in Piemonte as the Consorzio Asti DOCG has confirmed that a rosé category has been officially added to its production regulations, with approval coming after three years of bureaucracy.In order to achieve the pink hue, Asti Rosé is composed of a blend of 70-90% Moscato and 10-30% Brachetto (which would otherwise be used in the production of Brachetto d’ Acqui DOCG).
“There’s a long tradition of pairing Moscato vineyards with Brachetto vineyards, so it has always been in the history and heritage of Piemonte, but this is about going forward towards new consumers that will appreciate aromatic, easy-to-drink wines,” shared consorzio director Giacomo Pondini.
There is also a degree of flexibility when it comes to the level of sweetness, with extra brut expressions permissible alongside the sweeter styles that are perhaps best-known to consumers. As bottling will begin 30 days after the publication of the new production guidelines, which was in late March, Asti Rosé will start arriving on the market later this month.
🍷 The first edition of Vinitaly was held in 1967 under the name «Italian Wine Days» as a modest regional exhibition to give visibility to Italian wine producers. Over time, the event evolved from a local showcase to become the most important global reference point dedicated exclusively to Italian wine, attracting thousands of international exhibitors and buyers.
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