Growth signals for high-end wines in the US market: Prosecco is performing well

The wine market in the United States continues to struggle, as also highlighted by the latest WineNews analysis of Istat data on Italian wine exports in the first half of 2026 (849 million euros in value, -14.1%, with volumes of 167.7 million liters, -6.8%). Nevertheless, there are also encouraging signals, particularly for premium wines. According to the latest report by SipSource, referring to July 2026 and monitoring products leaving U.S. warehouses for restaurants and retail outlets, high-end wines continue to demonstrate greater resilience compared to spirits. Overall, while the wine sector is still facing challenges, it is showing encouraging signals. Over the past 3 months, volumes declined by 6.8%, representing an improvement of 110 basis points compared to June, while revenue fell by 4.2%. However, revenue performance is improving significantly in the price segment of 16 dollars and above, with the over 50 dollars segment posting 0.9% growth over the past 12 months. Champagne revenue increased by +14.7% over the last 3 months, Prosecco revenue rose by +10.2%, and Sauvignon Blanc revenue grew by +3.2%.
While wine is showing signals of improvement, spirits continue to face greater pressure on both revenue and premiumization. Spirits priced above 50 sollars recorded a 8.9% decline in revenue, with the 50 to 99.99 dollars segment down by 9.5%.
One trend common to both categories, however, is the relative strength of on-premise sales. The total volume of wine and spirits sold through bars, restaurants, and other hospitality venues declined by 2.8% over the past 12 months, compared with a much steeper 7.5% decline in retail sales.
Looking at wine and spirits together, total sales volume fell by 6.8% over the last 12 months, while revenue declined by 6.1%. Over the past three months, volume decreased by 6.2% and turnover by 6.1%.