“Piedmont of wine has been able to respond to difficulties”. The Region comments WineNews analysis

“Piedmont is the only region in Italy showing growth in wine exports, with a +0.5% increase in the first quarter of 2026, compared to overall Italian exports, which are down by -8.2% compared to the same period in 2025. At the national level, we have overtaken Tuscany, and only Veneto remains ahead of us. This is an extraordinary signal, proof that - despite the complexity of the global situation - Piedmont wine system has not stood still, but has reacted promptly, targeting new markets and offering production capable of reaching them. To consolidate and further strengthen this result, we are focusing on new promotional strategies launched by the Region to support our producers, as well as on the establishment of the Wine Observatory”. These are the words of president of the Piedmont Region, Alberto Cirio, and regional assessor for Trade, Agriculture and Food, Tourism, Sport and Post-Olympics, Hunting and Fishing, Parks, Paolo Bongioanni, regarding the “index” of wine exports of Italian regions compiled by WineNews basing on Istat data, which highlights how, among the top three regions by value of Italian wine (which together account for 66% of the total), Piedmont is the only one recording any growth in a first part of the year marked by a sharp decline in national exports (as we also analyzed with Francesco Monchiero, recently re-elected to lead the “Consortium of Consortia” of regional wine, Piemonte Land, in this interview).
Piedmont - home to Barolo and Barbaresco, Barbera d’Asti and Alta Langa, Gavi and Asti, among others - with 255.2 million euros in exports in the January-March 2026 period, is the second region in Italy after Veneto, which recorded 621.4 million euros but suffered a -9.7% drop compared to the first quarter of 2025, and ahead of Tuscany with 251.6 million euros in total value and a -8.3% decline.
“Among the three regions on the podium - continue Cirio and Bongioanni - Piedmont is the only one with a positive sign. This means that the highly diversified offering of its wine production has been able to respond quickly to tariffs, to the collapse or closure of traditional markets, and to rapidly align with new regions, as we have also seen in recent meetings with international buyers such as those from Asia and the Pacific at Vinexpo Hong Kong. Credit certainly goes to our entrepreneurs. Precisely for this reason, now more than ever, the idea of the Piedmont Region Wine Observatory which we are setting up proves strategic. Together with universities and with the contribution of Artificial Intelligence, it will be able to provide them with scientific guidance on the markets toward which to direct specific productions, and under what economic conditions”.