Wine tourism and wine consumption: signs of a new phase
One figure captures a clear shift in the way people relate to wine. In 2026, for the first time, visiting a family-run winery overtook buying wine at a good price among the preferred experiences of Italian wine tourists. The margin is not dramatic, but it is enough to point in one direction: people travelling for wine are looking less and less for a bargain bottle alone, and more for a place, a meeting and a story they can take home with them.
That shift is happening while the market continues to show signs of pressure. In Europe, and also in Italy, alcohol consumption is declining, while low- and no-alcohol alternatives are growing. These are not the same trend, but together they help explain why experiential wine tourism is gaining visibility at the same time as the sector is being forced to reckon with a less forgiving demand landscape.
The winery as a destination
Wine tourism in Italy now involves around 18 million people, a significant increase compared with 2024. But the most interesting point is not only the scale of the phenomenon. It is the kind of interest behind it. Visitors want to meet the producer, understand the land and live something that does not end with a purchase. Price still matters, but it is no longer the deciding factor.
That changes what a winery is expected to be. It is no longer just a sales point, but a destination. And to work as one, it needs to offer an experience that is easy to understand, consistent and simple to reach. The challenge now is to turn hospitality into a system: connecting producers, consortia, local institutions and tourism operators so that the territory does not depend only on the strength of a single stop along the way.
Some areas are already moving in that direction, building models that rely on networks rather than isolated visits. It is a less immediate path, but potentially a more resilient one, especially for an audience that approaches wine through experiences first and labels second.
A market calling for deeper adjustments
Meanwhile, within the wine sector, a more explicit view is taking hold: the decline in consumption should not be read as a temporary detour, but as a structural shift. Some senior figures at major Italian wine businesses argue that it is no longer realistic to expect an automatic return to the volumes of a few years ago, and that clearer choices are needed about the relationship between supply and demand.
That debate also reaches production. If supply keeps exceeding demand at remunerative levels, some voices in the sector believe production capacity may need to be reduced, including through vineyard removal. It is a difficult path, because it touches income, landscape and regional identity, but it shows how deeply the issue is felt.
The younger generation question runs through the whole discussion. It is not enough to change the tone of communication or soften the packaging: the industry also needs to rethink how wine presents itself, the language used to describe it and the occasions in which it is offered. Less distance, more immediacy; less ritual, more accessibility. Some wineries are already trying to move in this direction, especially in the visitor experience and in how they relate to their territory. But the gap between wine as culture and wine as an everyday habit for younger consumers remains wide.
What emerges, in the end, is not a sector in a single uniform crisis, nor one on the verge of an easy rebound. It is a business that has to redefine its balance: produce more carefully, speak to different audiences, and make wine tourism part of a broader and more legible offer. In this phase, Italian wine seems to find fewer answers in small tactical fixes and more in fundamental choices.
