Italian wine is facing slower markets, shifting tastes and a generational test
Italian wine is in a period of adjustment on two fronts at once. Outside the country, some historically strong markets are slowing down; at home, the base of regular drinkers looks more fragile and older. This is not a sudden break, but a collection of signals that is forcing the sector to read the present more carefully than usual.
The export numbers capture that shift well. After crossing the €8 billion mark in 2024, Italian wine exports fell again in 2025, with declines in both value and volume. The United States, the world’s largest wine-consuming market, weighed on Italian results, even if the slowdown was not equally severe for every European producer. Rather than a single shock, the picture suggests a market in which resilience increasingly depends on how well risk is spread.
That is why diversification has become such a familiar word across the trade. It does not mean abandoning established markets, but building a stronger presence in areas that are still less developed. According to Denis Pantini of Nomisma Wine Monitor, several non-traditional markets have grown faster than the major ones in recent years. Eastern Europe, selected Asian markets and parts of Latin America still offer room for expansion, although turning that space into commercial results takes time, investment and consistency. In that context, the European Union’s trade agreements with Mercosur and Australia could open useful opportunities in the medium term.
A signal from the fine wine market
Another clue comes from the secondary market, where fine wines often hint at changing tastes before the mainstream does. Liv-ex, the London-based platform focused on fine wine trading and analysis, has observed that over the past fifteen years white wines and sparkling wines have gained a larger share of trading activity, while reds have lost ground. Burgundy has become the leading region in the white-wine segment, in part because it fits a buying pattern that is less about long ageing and more about drinking within a medium timeframe. Sophia Gilmour, a market analyst at Liv-ex, has noted that a growing share of buyers now purchases with the intention of drinking within a few years of release.
This should not be read as a verdict on red wine, nor as a trend that looks identical everywhere. Still, it fits into a broader shift that is also visible, at least in part, in Italian consumption: sparkling wines have gained ground, while reds no longer sit at the centre of the conversation as they once did. The point is less the rise of a single category than the reshaping of the occasions and expectations attached to wine.
Inside the trade, a generational issue
If the export side asks for more flexibility, the domestic market raises a different question. Italy has an ageing population, and among consumers aged 35 to 50, the share of regular wine drinkers appears to have fallen compared with two decades ago. Consumers under 25 have always had a more occasional relationship with wine, but the more difficult issue concerns the people who should be in their prime drinking years and are instead drinking less, or less consistently.
One possible answer is coming from inside the sector, where more and more stakeholders are arguing that renewal should involve not only consumers, but also the people who shape appellation policy. The Consorzio Tutela Lugana Doc has announced the creation of a Gruppo Giovani made up of 31 producers and professionals under 40 who already hold operational roles in local companies. The initiative is not a symbolic gesture, but a space designed to bring new perspectives to communication, positioning and strategic decisions within the denomination.
Lugana, the white wine from Lake Garda made primarily from Turbiana grapes, has gained visibility in Italy and abroad in recent years. That makes its experiment with generational governance especially interesting: it will not solve the sector’s problems on its own, but it does suggest a direction other denominations may want to watch closely. If the market is changing faster than it used to, the structures that represent it need to become more agile too.
For Italian wine, the lesson for now is simple enough: no single market is enough, no segment stays still forever and no renewal can be taken for granted. The challenge is to balance commercial openness, an understanding of changing tastes and internal renewal without forcing the evidence into neat conclusions.
