With an 8% increase in production, a high-quality harvest meets the challenges of a complex global market and international trade headwinds.
A harvest predicted to reach 47.4 million hectoliters, with healthy grapes promising a very good to excellent vintage in nearly all regions, with peaks of outstanding quality. This is the finding of the 2025 harvest survey, a result of a harmonized methodology adopted by Assoenologi, Unione Italiana Vini (UIV), and the Institute of Services for the Agricultural and Food Market (ISMEA), with contributions from the competent office of the Ministry of Agriculture (Masaf) and regional authorities.
According to the estimates, production is expected to see an 8% increase compared to the last campaign, bringing volumes back in line with the average of recent years after two particularly scarce vintages (+2% on the 2024-2025 average). This harvest confirms Italy’s position as the world’s leading producer, followed in the global rankings by European competitors France (37.4 million hectoliters) and Spain (36.8 million hectoliters).
While still subject to the weather conditions of the coming weeks, the grapes are in good sanitary condition, thanks to attentive and scientific agronomic management—a crucial factor in a climate increasingly marked by extreme events. The harvest campaign was preceded by a period of uncertainty due to summer’s climatic variability. However, ample water reserves accumulated during the winter, a mild spring, and an early but fluctuating summer have favored an early harvest in many areas, with a temporal distribution that is expected to be lengthy, especially in the South.
The phenolic ripeness achieved in most areas, combined with the aromatic potential enhanced by the diurnal temperature variations at the end of August, suggests fresh and age-worthy wines in the North, clean and balanced profiles in Central Italy, and structured, characterful reds in the South.
Industry Leaders on the 2025 Vintage
Riccardo Cotarella, President of Assoenologi: “Until about twenty days ago, the situation appeared balanced overall, with the center-north showing regular progression in grape maturation, favored by a climate that balanced sun and rain. Subsequently, however, excessive rainfall created critical issues in several areas, while the south of the country—including the islands—had to contend with drought and a worrying lack of precipitation. Nevertheless, an encouraging fact emerges from this harvest preview: the quality of the grapes is expected to be very good, and in some areas, even excellent. This is a fundamental aspect because, in a complex moment like the one we are living through, the quality of the wines becomes a decisive element in the markets and requires even greater attention in their preparation. In this contradictory and unpredictable scenario, the role of enologists is once again central: their science, experience, and knowledge are indispensable tools for best addressing climate change and ensuring a more linear and secure management of vineyards and cellars. It is thanks to the daily work of enologists that the wine sector can respond competently to an increasingly uncertain climate.”
Sergio Marchi, Director General of ISMEA: “The 2025 harvest shows widely positive results in terms of both quantity and quality, a trend also confirmed by regional estimates and by particularly significant growth in the Mezzogiorno (Southern Italy), where double-digit increases are recorded. These achievements are the result of favorable meteorological conditions, with a mild spring characterized by an optimal balance of precipitation and a summer that was not excessively hot overall, combined with a solid framework of institutional support. A determining role was played by the policies of the Meloni Government, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, and Minister Francesco Lollobrigida, who have strongly supported the wine sector through substantial investments in promotion and significant allocations for supply chain contracts, for which ISMEA is the implementing body.”
Lamberto Frescobaldi, President of Unione Italiana Vini (UIV): “We toast to a qualitatively excellent vintage, but not to the quantities. Under current market conditions, it will be difficult to guarantee fair remuneration for the supply chain with a harvest of 47.4 million hectoliters, to which will likely be added about 37 million hectoliters of wine already in cellars. We are dealing with difficulties that affect not only Italy but all producing countries. The quality of our wine is undisputed, but even a good thing, if there is too much of it, devalues the sector. At this historic moment, we propose to review our production models, starting with the legislative framework of the ‘Testo Unico’ (the consolidated law on wine), with the aim of activating a flexible ‘accordion-like’ system for our potential, one that can expand or contract according to market dynamics. The decisive match is played on trade, and we hope it can be advanced through an extraordinary public-private promotional campaign in the USA and other promising markets.”
Ignacio Sánchez Recarte, Secretary General of the Comité Européen des Entreprises Vins (CEEV): “At the EU level, the 2025 harvest is expected to be slightly more abundant than in 2024. While Spain faces a lighter harvest due to climatic events, this will be offset by increasing harvests in Italy and France, despite grubbing-up in some French regions. This year, however, concerns have not only been driven by weather forecasts. Trade policy, and in particular the recent news on US tariffs, has become a central issue for the long-term sustainability of the sector. We find ourselves watching both the sky and the TV news.”
Matteo Zoppas, President of the Italian Trade Agency (ICE): “Italian wine is facing a complex phase, with a positive harvest but a saturated market and penalizing US tariffs, albeit at the base rate of 15%. Despite a 4% drop in export volumes in the first five months of 2025, the value remains stable at €3.2 billion for the same period last year. The American market remains strategic, and although it shows 5.79% growth in the January-May period this year, we should not assume this trend will last; it is a result of stocking logistics, and market sell-out is not at all comforting. In this context, ICE Agency reinforces its role in supporting ‘Made in Italy’ by backing Italian companies with diversified strategies. These include organizing Vinitaly USA in Chicago and Simply Italia in Miami and Dallas; promoting alliances with US partners (importers, distributors, restaurateurs) for joint awareness initiatives against tariffs; and opening new internationalization paths by accelerating diversification into new markets. In the first half of 2025, we have already carried out 20 promotional initiatives dedicated to wine, involving over 240 companies and 440 operators, with another 35 under evaluation. The quality of Italian wine and our commitment to education and tasting will allow us to overcome this phase of market saturation, consolidating the sector’s international leadership.”
Geography of the Italian Vineyard 2025
The expected increase in production is distributed unevenly across the peninsula. The primary driver of growth is the South, where the harvest records a double-digit jump (+19%), led by the performance of Puglia (+17%). This is thanks to the water availability accumulated in the spring, which allowed the southern vineyards to respond well to the heatwaves of June and August.
Production is also increasing, albeit more modestly, in the North. The Northwest (+8%) sees Lombardy in clear recovery, with a +15% increase over last year, though still -8% compared to the 2020-2024 average. The vineyards of the Northeast (+3%) also show an overall increase, where a variable summer was preceded by a very rainy spring that required careful management of phytopathies.
By region, Friuli-Venezia Giulia posts the largest increase (+10%), followed by Trentino-Alto Adige (+9%) and Veneto (+2%). Veneto’s growth is very limited, following a 2024 vintage that was in line with the five-year average. Emilia-Romagna remains stable, divided between increases in Romagna and decreases, particularly in grape weight, in Emilia. Finally, Central Italy shows a negative trend (-3%), where the strong performances of Umbria (+10%), Marche (+18%), and Lazio (+5%) are not enough to offset the loss in Tuscany (-13%), a physiological decline after a truly abundant 2024.
In the regional rankings, with nearly 12 million hectoliters and a quarter of the total ‘Made in Italy’ harvest, Veneto confirms its position as the leading Italian production region. It is followed by Puglia and Emilia-Romagna, with 19% and 15% respectively. Together, the top three account for 59% of the national production. Sicily and Abruzzo follow in the top five, pushing Piedmont and Tuscany to sixth and seventh place.
The Harvest in Europe
After two vintages dominated by weather concerns, wine production is also showing timid growth on the European front (+2.1%). France is only partially recovering last year’s losses, re-establishing itself in second place behind Italy with a production of 37.4 million hectoliters. Spain drops one step on the podium, expected to harvest 36.8 million hectoliters. They are followed at a distance by Germany and Portugal, with 8.4 and 6.2 million hectoliters respectively.
Market and Foreign Trade
Contrasting with what promises to be an excellent vintage is a particularly complex market landscape, challenged by new consumption patterns that the wine sector is beginning to address.
The 2024/2025 campaign closed with a slight increase in wine prices. The ISMEA producer price index recorded a +1% overall increase but highlighted different dynamics between segments: table wines grew by 4% thanks to whites, while reds declined. DOC-DOCG wines fell by -2% due to reds, with a slight increase for whites. IGT wines showed a +1% gain, equally distributed. In a cyclical analysis, summer months saw a drop in price lists in anticipation of the new campaign and the evolving international production landscape, which has a greater impact on table wines, whereas DOC-DOCG wines follow more autonomous dynamics. Wine stocks as of July 31, 2025, are stable compared to the previous year (data from Cantina Italia). On the domestic demand side, the large-scale retail sector (GDO) shows growth in sparkling wine purchases, both in volume and value, against a slowdown for still wines (data from ISMEA/Nielsen IQ).
Regarding foreign demand, after a positive 2024, the first five months of 2025 confirm the values achieved, with a slight reduction in volumes (-4%) due to a drop in shipments of common wines, while PDO wines registered an increase.