Bottling of Italian wine in 2025 at -2.1% on 2024: well Docg-Doc (+1%) and white wines (+2,7%)

Total bottlings of Italian wine in 2025 were down by -2.1% compared to 2024 (when 2.019 billion bottles were certified, -0.46% compared to 2023 but +1.4% above the 2019-2023 average, ed). However, Docg and Doc wines, which serve as the driving force of Italian wine exports, showed positive results, rising by 1% both year-on-year and compared to the average of the last three years. Igt wines, on the other hand, recorded a significant decline: -12% compared to 2024 and -10% versus the previous three-year average. At a broader level, performance varied widely among wine types: sparkling wines performed well (+1%), rosé wines showed notable growth (+5.7%), and still white wines also increased (+2.7%). Still red wines fell sharply by over 13%. Valoritalia, the leading certification body in the Italian wine supply chain (it alone oversees over 60% of production and bottling volumes across all Italian denominations of origin), talks about a “substantial stability in volumes” which remain above pre-Covid levels despite a complex market and weak global demand. The organization has released updated data on December 31st 2025 on Italian wine bottlings.
The update was made possible by the new digital platform “Tessa” (owned by Valoritalia and fully developed by the entity in collaboration with Microsoft), which can process vast amounts of data, specifically the activities generated by the more than 90,000 companies involved in the production and commercialization of the 219 certified denominations of origin.
2025, according to Valoritalia, “marks a phase of consolidation for the quality wine supply chain: after years of strong post-pandemic growth, the sector is undergoing an adjustment phase characterized by a modest contraction in volumes alongside a strengthening of higher value-added production”. It highlights that “overall bottlings showed only a moderate decline compared to 2024”. This divergence in performance among wine types is described as being “in line with evolving national and international consumption preferences, which for several years have favored white and sparkling wines over red wines”. Data reveals “significant differences in denomination performance linked to the volumes marketed”.
Attention then turns to micro-denominations, i.e. those with less than 10,000 hectoliters bottled in 2025 which account for 70% of the 219 denominations certified by Valoritalia but only 2% of total bottled volume. This segment registered a 7.2% loss, far worse than the sector average. Conversely, the 13 small denominations with 10,000–20,000 hectoliters (6% of all DOs and 2% of total volume) grew by 3%. The 19 medium-small denominations with 20,000 - 50,000 hectoliters saw a 4.7% decline, whereas the 20 medium-large denominations with 50,000 - 150,000 hectoliters grew by 4%. Finally, the 14 large denominations, those above 150,000 hectoliters, fell by -2.7%. According to Valoritalia, “this data highlights the structural weakness of micro-denominations, which struggle to respond effectively to market fluctuations”.
From a structural standpoint, 2025 data confirms the strong fragmentation of the sector: over 75% of bottlers certified by Valoritalia marketed fewer than 65,000 bottles, while only 171 companies (3.2% of the total) bottled more than 1.3 million. Despite the high number of bottling companies, the level of industry concentration is still significant: in 2025, the top five operators bottled 18% of total volume while representing only 0.1% of companies numerically.
“The report - comments Francesco Liantonio, president of Valoritalia -  provides the image of a solid sector, where structured and homogeneous data represents a strategic tool to support analysis, planning, and denomination protection. Even during an adjustment phase following tensions caused by tariffs and geopolitical instability, the supply chain demonstrates resilience. However, it is essential to move beyond raw numbers: the aim must be an increasingly conscious enhancement of our wine heritage. Territories, denominations, and production quality must remain central to Italy system. Looking toward 2026, the focus should not be on quantitative primacy but on strengthening the intrinsic value of our production. The competitiveness of Italian wine depends on our ability to communicate and defend our denominations and geographical indications on international markets, making the true weight of the sector understood”.
Analyses by Nomisma Wine Monitor confirm the sector adaptability, with production adjusting to a complex market that resulted in a 3% drop in the value of Italian wine exports, while other competitors experienced much sharper declines (from -15% for Australia to -10% for Chile up to -4.5% for France). This decrease was mirrored by a 2.8% fall in wine sales by volume in the Italian mass retail channel, where still and semi-sparkling wines fared worst (-3.8%), while sparkling wines, continuing a long-lasting trend, achieved further growth (+3.1%) (source: Niq). According to Giangiacomo Gallarati Scotti Bonaldi, president of Federdoc, the organization representing Italian denomination protection consortia, “although the 2025 data confirms the overall resilience of the national system, they also reveal an evident fragmentation within the denomination sector. It is increasingly urgent, in my view, to implement organizational reform, strengthening the role of Protection Consortia, especially in light of the new planning functions assigned to them by the European Union. In this context, Valoritalia data-analysis model provides fundamental support, because sound, forward-looking decisions can only be made starting from concrete data”.
To provide increasingly advanced analytical tools, Valoritalia has launched a new reporting service dedicated to Protection Consortia, designed to offer a clear and structured view of trends in key quantitative indicators of certified denominations. The service includes a monthly report for each denomination managed by the consortium, presenting, through tables, diagrams, and charts, the temporal evolution of the main phases of the certification process: from sampling to bottling, from sales and transfers of bulk wine to downgrades and reclassifications, as well as chemical-analytical parameters, inventories, and production volumes. Moreover, special attention is given to certain socioeconomic indicators considered highly valuable for consortium governance, such as the distribution of bottlings between members and non-members and the inclusion of concentration indexes, elements which provide insight into the production and entrepreneurial landscape of the denomination. In the coming months, thanks to the advanced technological infrastructure of “Tessa”, Valoritalia will make additional database sections available on its portal, granting consortia increasingly direct access to data. In doing so, Valoritalia reaffirms its role in supporting the work of Protection Consortia, returning, within full compliance with current regulations, the information generated by companies in the certification process. This choice is rooted in the belief that precise and structured knowledge of processes forms the foundation of modern and effective management, especially in a context where consortia are required to perform increasingly complex and strategic planning functions.