Republished from April 2025
Vinitaly 2025 kicked-off its 57th edition in Verona setting forth the view that Italian wine is ready to face global challenges in its industry and market. This year’s trade-show had 97,000 attendees from over 130 countries and 4,000 exhibiting companies, reassessing itself as a driving force in the wine world. Despite a 20% drop in visitors from China, the overall international presence remained robust. Over 30,000 foreign buyers attended, including 3,000 from the United States, confirming the U.S. as the main market for Italian wine, moreover so considering possible new tariffs.
Vinitaly is organised by Veronafiere (Verona’s trade-show company). Its president, Federico Bricolo, emphasized Vinitaly’s commitment to supporting institutions and businesses abroad. Upcoming initiatives include a promotional event at the Italian Embassy in Washington, targeting U.S. lawmakers (vs. tariffs) and reinforcing ties ahead of the second “Vinitaly USA” meeting in Chicago next October.
However, talks had also difficult subjects such as tariffs, regulatory bottlenecks, and the future of NoLo drinks. Vinitaly 2025 was both a platform of excellence and an arena for worries, strategies, and opportunities regarding the future of Italian (and global) wine.
One of the most debated issues this year was the impact of newly imposed U.S. tariffs on Italian wine. According to Lamberto Frescobaldi, president of the Unione Italiana Vini (UIV), American distributors are refusing to absorb the extra cost, leaving Italian producers under pressure to maintain shelf prices or risk market loss.
The estimated is of around €323 million/year, affecting nearly 480 million bottles. Frescobaldi urged Italian companies to hold on and called for overall sacrifice across the supply chain, including retailers and logistics partners. He also appealed to the Italian government to set forth diplomatic initiatives at the EU level to prevent a repeat of the French scenario in 2020, where similar tariffs led to a 28% drop in wine exports to the U.S.
Faced with this pressure, the urgency for market diversification is growing. While the U.S. remains a pillar of Italian wine exports(accounting for 24% of Italian wine exports), relying too heavily on this export market is a dangerous weakness. Encouragingly, Vinitaly 2025 showed that buyer attendance from the UK surged by 30%, while Belgium and the Netherlands saw increases of 20% each, and Japan and Switzerland rose by 10%. These signals confirm growing demand from countries with mature and premium-oriented consumer bases, offering Italian producers new growth paths beyond the Atlantic.

Now a paragraph on the so-called “No-Lo” (No and Low alcohol) drinks. First of all, to any wine-lover, gourmet and wine expert they cannot be considered as “wine”.
WINE, by definition, history, production method and terroir HAS ALCOHOL!
A certain range of % alcohol.
No-Lo products, therefore, cannot be classified as wine, whatever the marketing and sales propaganda may say or invent. No-Lo may be good dinks and successfully appreciated products, but cannot be considered as wine (and I would suggest nor labelled as such).
That clear, the No-Lo new segment drew major attention at this year’s Vinitaly for its growth potential. Globally, the market is projected to reach $3.3 billion by 2028, led by the U.S. which holds a 63% market share. In Italy No-Lo drinks represent just 0.1% of sales (fortunately). Producers of NoLo expressed frustration over tax ambiguities and space separation rules that make domestic production practically impossible until at least 2026. As a result, leading Italian brands are outsourcing dealcoholization (an industrial process manipulating wine and altering its alcoholic nature, turning it into another drink) abroad, hurting competitiveness and innovation.
Unfortunately, there are several wine producers in Italy and abroad that, thinking to sell more liquid or trying to straighten their languishing economic performances, embrace the NoLo new dogma and turn advocates of these drinks produced from wine alteration. Calls for a clear legal framework intensified during the exhibition, as industry leaders pushed to unlock investment and protect early adopters from reputational risks.
The risk of this industry approach, to me, is to commit business suicide, as NoLo drinks do not necessarily have to possess wine’s unique characteristics and qualities, such as terroir, heritage, history, alcohol. In other words NoLos can be produced more easily than wine, by anyone, anywhere and their input could easily become poor quality wine, reprocessed industrially as a decent NoLo drink, but de facto substituting wine itself. Current wine producers themselves could be easily substituted by big food companies or conglomerates, producing NoLo similarly to soft-drinks. Perhaps in aluminum cans… What would be the cost to the wine industry of such a trend, if successful? I believe it is easily imaginable. Odd is, that wine producers themselves are pushing for this scenario, instead of defending their product, their companies and the future of their families. NoLos will certainly not require so many producers, globally, as currently is for wine as an industry; a few big global players will suffice. And Big drink industry companies know that. Consumer interest seems surging. According to UIV’s Observatory, Italian consumers are increasingly drawn to No-Lo drinks for health, safety, and curiosity, especially among younger buyers. With new regulation, this niche could become a (deadly and suicidal) diversification channel for Italian wineries.

One of the most encouraging signals at Vinitaly 2025 came from the wine tourism sector. The new “Vinitaly Tourism” format and a landmark report by the Movimento Turismo del Vino and CESEO highlighted how wineries are adapting to experiential trends and regional identities.
Italian wine tourism is no longer limited to tastings. Across the country, especially in central and southern regions, wineries are offering yoga in vineyards, vineyard cycling tours, wine festivals with live music, and even art workshops among the vines. Tuscany and Umbria lead regions with premium experiences. Wine tourism is evolving fast and has become an essential driver for brand loyalty and market differentiation. As Violante Gardini Cinelli Colombini, president of MTV, stated: “Differentiation is the key to meeting the needs of the contemporary wine tourist. It’s no longer about just showing the cellar, it’s about creating memories.”
For the first time, two European Commissioners visited the fair, signaling its growing policy relevance. With new trade negotiations and regulatory reforms upcoming, Vinitaly is an industry exhibition where the future of Italian wine is being shaped.