The Guardian reports that thieves have stolen approximately 30,000 bottles of premium wine worth €5 million from Marchesi Antinori, one of Italy’s most prestigious family-owned wine producers. At least seven masked individuals reportedly disabled security systems at the company’s Cortona facility in Tuscany before using forklifts to load two lorries with wines including Solaia, Tignanello and Guado al Tasso. The theft, which occurred over the weekend and was discovered on Monday, is thought to be one of Italy’s largest wine robberies. Chief executive Renzo Cotarella suggested that the operation required detailed planning and specialist knowledge. The incident follows other significant winery thefts across Italy, raising concerns about organised crime targeting valuable wine inventories. The company has warned buyers to avoid suspicious offers through unofficial channels while police continue their investigation.
Italy
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How Low Can You Go? Garda DOC May Just Have the Answer
The Buyer reports that Garda DOC has become the first Italian DOC to permit lower-alcohol wines within its production regulations, allowing qualifying wines to retain PDO or PGI status rather than being pushed outside the protected designation system. The approach relies largely on earlier harvesting of Garganega to produce wines around 9% to 11% ABV, rather than completely removing alcohol after fermentation, with three labels now available from the 2025 vintage. Research presented alongside the development found considerable resistance among wine professionals to dealcoholising prestigious PDO wines, highlighting the wider challenge facing appellations as they respond to changing drinking habits while trying to preserve regional identity.
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Italian Wine Wxports Fell 6.2% to 3.6 Billion Euros in the First Half of 2026
Vinetur reports that the value of Italian wine exports declined by 6.2% to €3.6 billion during the first half of 2026, underlining the pressure facing one of the world’s largest wine-exporting countries. Veneto remained Italy’s largest exporting region despite suffering an 8.4% fall, while Piedmont was among the relatively few major regions to achieve growth, indicating that the downturn is uneven across Italy’s principal wine-producing areas.
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Italian Supermarket Wine Sales Decline as Sparkling Wine Grows
WineNews reports that Italian supermarket wine sales continue to contract by volume, while sparkling wine is proving substantially more resilient. Circana figures for the 12 months to July 2026 show 414 million litres of wine sold, down 3.4%, with sales value down a smaller 1.2% to €1.8 billion, while sparkling wine increased 1% by volume and 1.2% by value. Prosecco volumes rose 3.8%, while Italian traditional-method sparkling wines including Franciacorta and Trentodoc grew 7.6%, and private-label wine fell by more than 5%, suggesting that consumers drinking less may increasingly be prioritising recognised producer brands and higher-value categories.
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Wine Patriarch Vittorio Frescobaldi Dies at 97
ANSA reports that Vittorio Frescobaldi, patriarch of one of Italy’s most historically important winemaking families, has died aged 97. Born in Florence in 1928 and representing the thirty-first generation of the Frescobaldi family, he played a major role in the development of the family’s Tuscan wine business and was appointed Cavaliere del Lavoro in 1977 in recognition of his work in agriculture. His death marks the passing of a leading figure from the generation that helped establish modern Italian fine wine internationally.
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Assoenologi & UIV: No Forecasts, but Data at the End of Harvest
WineNews reports that Italy’s principal wine-sector organisations, Assoenologi and Unione Italiana Vini, will not issue their traditional national grape-harvest production forecast for 2026, with Coldiretti supporting the decision. The organisations say exceptionally uncertain vineyard and climatic conditions make early estimates less reliable, so definitive production data will instead be released after harvesting is completed, following a similar approach taken by the French wine sector. The decision reflects concern that inaccurate preliminary figures could distort expectations during an already delicate period for growers and the wider wine market.
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Reduced Yields and Excess Stock in Italy
Italian Food reports that Italy is entering the 2026 harvest with drought-reduced yields but exceptionally high wine inventories, creating an unusual situation in which some producers see lower production as necessary to rebalance the market. The report says Italian cellars held 45.6 million hectolitres of wine and must at the end of July, 8.2% more than a year earlier, while bulk DOC wine prices and exports have weakened. Several major appellations have consequently reduced permitted yields, although industry representatives argue that broader production controls may be required to prevent surplus grapes simply being redirected into IGT or table wine.
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Spain’s Wine Exports Fell 20.2% After Italy and France Cut Bulk Purchases
Vinetur reports that Spanish wine-export volumes fell 20.2% during the first half of 2026, with the value of exports down 10.2% to approximately €1.56 billion. A major factor was weaker demand for Spanish bulk wine from Italy and France, traditionally important buyers, with Castile-La Mancha particularly exposed to the contraction. The difference between the fall in volume and value indicates that average export prices have risen, but the figures underline continuing pressure on one of the world’s largest wine-exporting industries.
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Wine Trends in Italy
WineItaly24 reports mounting pressure on the Italian wine sector as high inventories coincide with declining exports and the arrival of the 2026 harvest. Italian wineries held 42.6 million hectolitres of wine at the end of July, 6.9% more than a year earlier, while wine exports during the first five months of 2026 fell 6.86% in value to about €2.98 billion and approximately 5% in volume. Export value fell particularly sharply to the United States, down 15.4%, while Germany was down 8.2% and the UK down 6.5%. Against that backdrop, several regions and appellations are reducing yields or considering other production controls, as the industry tries to bring supply more closely into line with weakening demand.
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U.S. Slump Drove Nearly 60% of Italy’s Wine Export Losses
Vinetur reports that the United States accounted for roughly 59% of the decline in Italian wine export value during the first five months of 2026. Italian wine exports to the US fell 15.4% to €709 million, while volumes dropped 6%, meaning producers lost about €129.1 million in revenue compared with the same period last year, while worldwide Italian wine exports fell 6.86% to €2.98 billion. The figures also indicate falling revenue per litre in America, making the US downturn considerably more damaging than the softer declines recorded in markets such as Germany and Britain.
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Roman Shipwreck With 500 Amphorae Discovered off Sicily
The Drinks Business reports that a Roman-era shipwreck carrying roughly 500 amphorae has been discovered off Mazara del Vallo in western Sicily, about five kilometres offshore and 46 metres beneath the surface. The vessel is thought to date from between the second and first centuries BC, with the concentration of transport amphorae offering archaeologists potentially valuable evidence about Mediterranean commerce, including the movement of wine and other agricultural goods during the Roman Republic. Italian authorities are now documenting and protecting the wreck while further investigation seeks to establish the cargo’s origin and destination.
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Italy Proposes Decree Expanding Wine Consortia Powers
Vinetur reports that an Italian government draft decree would give wine appellation consortia broader authority over market management, supply coordination, wine tourism and protection of denomination value. The proposal would align Italian legislation more closely with EU Regulation 2024/1143 and could allow consortia to publish non-binding market indicators, coordinate tourism services and take stronger action against commercial practices considered damaging to a protected geographical indication’s reputation or value.
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Prosecco Plans Controlled Growth While Other Italian Regions Cut Production
WineNews reports that the three Prosecco consortia are considering a carefully managed increase in available supply, contrasting with yield reductions, planting restrictions and possible crisis distillation elsewhere in Italy. Proposed measures include administrative storage, releasing reserves from the 2025 harvest, permitting 2,000 additional hectares to produce wine eligible for Prosecco DOC and authorising another 180 hectares for Asolo Prosecco. Industry representatives stressed that expansion must preserve prices, vineyard profitability and the distinct identities of Prosecco DOC, Conegliano Valdobbiadene DOCG and Asolo Prosecco DOCG.
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Henkell Freixenet Offloads UK Wine Merchant to Compagnia del Gusto Holding
Global Drinks Intel reports that Freixenet Copestick has sold London-based Jascots Wine Merchants to Italy’s Compagnia del Gusto Holding for an undisclosed amount. Staff assigned to Jascots are expected to transfer with the business, while the new owner plans to use Jascots’ on-trade network to expand its Italian food and wine portfolio in Britain, alongside continued distribution of existing partner producers.
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Italian Wine’s Share of Global Exports Rises From 18.7% to 23% in 10 Years
WineNews reports that Italian wine accounted for 23% of global wine exports in 2025, up from 18.7% in 2015, according to Nomisma analysis based on Trade Map data. The figures form part of wider growth in Italy’s food and beverage exports, which reached just over US$67 billion and gave the country a 4.7% share of the worldwide market. Wine remains one of the strongest contributors to Italy’s export performance, despite current trade and geopolitical uncertainty.