Rome, November 12 (askanews) – Italian wine: role and value in national and international context, trends and prospects. These are the themes that characterize the XIV meeting with the Leonardo Committee Region organized in collaboration with Herita Marzotto Wine Estates, entitled ‘Italian wine between excellence and global challenges’, an event that the Leonardo Committee – founded in 1993 to strengthen the image of Italian excellence in the world, and in which 118 companies present with a total turnover of 410 billion euros and more than one million employees – strongly support, proving its commitment to upholding Made in Italy.
The meeting was held at Ca’ del Bosco, in the heart of Franciacorta. Committee President Leonardo opened the event. ‘The wine sector – recalls Sergio Dompé (President of the Leonardo Committee) – represents one of the jewels of Made in Italy, with more than 30,000 processing companies, 74 thousand employees and a turnover that exceeds 16 billion euros, of which more than 8 billion comes from exports. An example of excellence is the Ca’ del Bosco plantation, which is currently one of the leading companies in the production of Franciacorta. The position was achieved thanks to passion, enthusiasm, research and work – started by Maurizio Zanella and continued with the entry of the Marzotto family in 1994 – which transformed a house in a chestnut grove into one of the most modern wineries. As highlighted by the Nomisma Wine Monitor research, in a context characterized by climate change, globalization and technological evolution, Italy’s advantage must continue to invest in research and artificial intelligence applied to agriculture. Only in this way will we be able to face the challenges of the future and consolidate the leadership of our country, which today already sees Italy as the world’s leading wine exporter in terms of volume and value second, with exports reaching 8.1 billion euros in 2024.
Following Gaetano Marzotto – President of Herita Marzotto Wine Estates: ‘We are honored to welcome you on the occasion of this extraordinary estate, the flagship of Herita Marzotto Wine Estates, in a special year for us: the ninetieth anniversary of our foundation, achieved thanks to the ability to continue to innovate, the diversification of our portfolio, internationalization and forward-looking choices capable of foreseeing consumer changes in terms of tastes and consumption occasions’.
In the report entitled ‘The competitiveness of Italian wine in the market scenario: evolution and prospects’, Denis Pantini – Head of Agri-Food and Wine Monitor Nomisma, recalls how the sector has around 30,000 processing companies (more than 240,000 companies in the main phase of the supply chain), with a turnover of 16 billion euros and a weight of 9% in national food & drink. In 2024, exports will reach 8.1 billion euros, or 14% of all agri-food exports. ‘Grapes – recalls Pantini – therefore represent a strategic asset that is not only economic, but also territorial and social: more than 60% of Italy’s vineyards are located in hilly and mountainous areas, thus contributing to the maintenance of the internal territory and the increase of biodiversity’.
Italy remains the world’s leading exporter in terms of volume and second in terms of value after France. However, over the past twenty years, our position in overseas markets has improved significantly. ‘If at the beginning of the millennium, Italy was the leader in wine exports in only 9 markets, today we are in 46 markets, with the value share increasing from 17% to 22%, compared with the decline of French wine which fell from 38% to 33% of world exports. The strength of Made in Italy wines is significant and is leading to the conquest of new markets in Southeast Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe, as Pantini underlines.
It is worth noting that the structure of Italian wine production is highly fragmented: compared to 409 PDOs and 118 PGIs, the top 100 companies account for only 46% of turnover and 58% of exports, compared with much higher percentages in France and Australia. There is also a strong reliance on Prosecco, which represents a quarter of Italy’s bottled exports, a concentration that exposes the system to the risk of market saturation and regulatory or commercial variation.
One of the most impactful elements in the current scenario is trade duties. Due to tariffs and cross-retaliation between the United States, Canada and China, American manufacturers – paradoxically – lost about 30% of their overall exports in the first seven months of 2025. Canadian and Chinese markets, traditionally strong for the US, have shrunk dramatically. For Italy, the immediate impact is smaller, but still present, and is also exacerbated by the simultaneous devaluation of the dollar: in the first seven months of 2025, Italian wine exports fell slightly (value -0.9%), but to get a more precise picture of the impact, we have to wait until the end of the year.
