Italy: Fears overproduction could lead to wine price collapse

By Hamish Graham

Published: 07 July, 2025

Lamberto Frescobaldi, President of Unione Italiana Vini (UIV), Italy’s leading wine trade body, has warned urgent action must be taken to protect the industry. The calls come amid fears of overproduction as the nation continues to expand its land area under vine.

According to Frescobaldi, current production levels “risk flooding our national cellar” and causing a price collapse for the country’s wines.

The imbalance between sectoral output and market demand was highlighted by research conducted by UIV. Across Italy’s top four markets (Italy inclusive) volumes sales were down. Domestic sales were down –1.8%, with falls seen across the US (-4.7%), UK (-3%) and German (-9.6%) markets.

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Amid this downturn, Italy is the only major wine-producing country expanding its vineyard area which risks worsening the issue of oversupply. If 2025’s harvest reaches the 25 year average of 50mn hls, cellar stocks in the country could reach a concerning 90mn hls by October of this year. The UIV estimates this could hurt production value by 5.3%, equivalent to over €500mn in losses.

Frescobaldi believes drastic measures must be taken: “Recent years have seen reduced harvests, which masked structural issues. We now need a reality check: we must cut back production by 7-8mn hls to preserve profitability of one of Italy’s key export sectors.”

At the UIV’s recent national assembly, he also laid out the need for a revision to Italy’s ‘Wine Text’ laws, utilising input from the industry to help tighten wine production and preserve the entire supply chain’s sustainability.

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