Salon discussion: Sustainability and the Italian Winescape

By Harpers Editorial

Published: 13 March, 2026

In partnership with the Real Italian Wine & Food Experience, part of the Wines Experience (WE) global series, by United Experience

With an important new Italian wine trade show to debut at Excel this April, Harpers teamed up with the organisers to host a Salon, inviting a cross section of UK trade luminaries to discuss trends in the UK market and how they align with Italian wines. Convened at Macellaio RC in London’s Soho, the discussion is part of a broader effort by United Experience to engage directly with the market as the new fair takes shape. The lively debate acknowledged that sustainability and authenticity are key cues for younger generations of drinkers, also suggesting that Italy has these assets in spades.

Introducing the session, Silvia Raffa, MD, Real Italian Wine & Food Experience (Wines Experience London) outlined that the UK remains the second largest market for Italian wines by value after the US, and the largest volume market for Italian wines in the EU.

“Italian wines maintain strong popularity in the UK, rewarded by perceptions of quality and authenticity, and from everyday drinking wines to premium,” said Raffa. “The question, then, is not only where the market stands today, but where it is heading, and how Italian wine retains its platform?”

That question sits at the heart of the Wines Experience approach, actively asking the market to share their insights, challenges and ideas in order to help shape a fair that reflects the needs of today’s trade.

“London is a fundamental marketplace for Italian wine and a natural starting point for Wines Experience,” said Maurizio Muzzetta, president of Fiere Italiane SEA and founder of United Experience, an initiative developed together with the Bolognafiere Group. “But today a trade fair must be more than a place to transact. It should be a space where ideas circulate, inspiration takes shape, producers and buyers gain clarity, and where long-term value is built through meaningful exchange.”

The panel, comprising importers, sommeliers and restaurateurs, journalists and more – with the Italian wine specialists well represented – then looked at how best to communicate and link these aspects of Italy’s diverse production with UK trade and consumers alike. A central question posed was whether sustainability could be better utilised as a ‘trade decision tool’?

For Sergio de Luca, director of buying for Italy at Enotria&Coe, sustainability in Italy’s wine sector is still a journey very much underway, though with renewed emphasis from today’s producers.

“I’ve worked with some of my producers for 40 years, so it isn’t always easy to get them to change, but I am happy that at this point the fresh generation is coming in and they are much more interested in sustainability,” said de Luca, citing Enotria’s Sustainability Department and its work in persuading producers to embrace sustainability.

“Sustainability is the important issue for today, but it’s not something that I think is easy, it’s not just a word. It’s trying to make producers, who make beautiful wine, understand that unsustainable methods are not what the planet wants, not what the new generation wants.”

Luigi Buonanno, head of sales for London at Berkmann Wine Cellars, which publishes an annual Green Harvest Report, believed much of the challenge in communicating progress lay in the the very nebulous nature of the word ‘sustainability’.

“Sustainability is a very big word, it’s very catchy, but it doesn’t mean anything, there isn’t one single protocol that you can follow, so it’s more a way of working,” he said.

“We give a score to producers depending on how they are practicing in the vineyard, how heavy their bottles are… what we see more and more, is the attention of the final customer to these things. And it’s very important that each and every one of us play our part, so we can really make a change and make an impact.”

Bret Flemming, MD at high end distributor Armit Wines, which also folds sustainability into the company KPIs, described sustainability as “a new consumer concept”, but one that had informed the practices of estates he represents for hundreds of years.

“Sustainability, from my perspective, and our partners, isn’t just about filling in a box – it goes way deeper than that, we are selling an estate, a heritage,” he added.

Swirl Wine Group’s Sarah Abbott MW picked up on this point, arguing that few countries were as well placed as Italy to join the dots between that heritage and the consumer, because of the country’s compelling blend of tradition and modernity.

“From the Italian perspective there’s enormous opportunity because of this idea of what the young people call ‘old money vibe’, this sense of continuous heritage link, yet innovation and refreshment, regeneration that links to this deep craft, [this] is so Italian and its very powerful, and it links to true luxury goods,” she said.

“Another essence of Italy is this radical ingenuity that just keeps coming and coming – It’s the home of the Slow Food movement, the home of the Biodiversity Friend movement, Italy has everything… all this artisanal production, this Italian richness.”

Ambrogio Ianeselli, founder of Dolce Vita Wines, elaborated on this theme, suggesting that just using the word ‘sustainability’ was not enough in connection with Italy, even if many aspects of sustainability are already woven into its diverse patchwork of pan-regional production.

“If you use sustainability as a kind of statement, a word, we will never achieve what we want to do. It should be more of a natural way, we need to encourage people to decide for themselves, to drink a bottle of wine that is not £6.50, which equals drinking coca cola – that is the goal,” said Ianeselli.

“I was fortunate enough to be in the UK when The River Café opened to show the Italian landscape, cooking a dish means to get a good product, presented in a natural way, and all the rest is subservient to the main ingredients. And a more natural way of expressing [Italian produce] will give our sons and daughters an idea of what wine should be.”

Clarette’s GM and head sommelier Riccardo del Noce then addressed the challenges of communicating why a wine may come at a premium because of its more sustainable and often artisanal production, placing emphasis on education.

“There is this barrier, because people selling the wine are having difficulty passing on this concept of sustainability to the guests. You need to have more knowledge, make the guest more emotional and romantic about the fact that you are sustainable, and that is why there is a little extra price on it,” he said.

“Without education we will never make the consumer understand what we are doing here. But once they understand, then the price doesn’t become a problem anymore. All these little steps need to be explained to the final consumer – we have to make those connections, we have to work together.”

And all of this, said Luca Dusi, founder of Passione Vino, was in the hands of those restaurateurs, sommeliers, retail merchants and importers in the UK wine trade.

“We can choose who to buy from, it’s not the producer giving us a choice, the choice is ours, what we give the market,” he said.

“It’s all about education, because unlike other alcoholic drinks, wine is the geography and history and culture of the place where it comes from, it is not just a lager, just alcohol. So the one thing this market is missing out on is education, the Jamie Oliver of wine – you need to break it down for everybody.”

Abbott agreed, concluding: “It has to be more intergenerational, so if you want young people to be interested in wine, you need young people talking to them.

“Italy has got so much evocation of quality and heritage, meaning, symbolism – as a strategy the whole kind of sustainability [aspect], Slow Food, slow wine, low intervention, it’s all woven through the Italian story. Italy doesn’t need to come on and say ‘we’re sustainable, you know’… Brand Italy has such an evocation of all of this.”

The answer, then, to the original question is that Italy is very well placed to communicate its ‘sustainability’ by majoring on what it already does and does so well.

Apply to attend the Real Italian Wine & Food Experience here.

Dates: 26-27 April 2026

Fair Hours: 11am- 5pm

Venue: ExCel London

Royal Victoria Dock, 1 Western Gateway

London, E16 1XL

The Salon:

The was the first Salon in a series as part of a broader effort by the organisers to remain closely engaged with the markets in which Wines Experience operates. Insights emerging from discussions like these help inform how the fair evolves, how Italian wines are communicated to wider audiences and how the organisers work alongside key institutions such as the Italian Chamber of Commerce to bring meaningful value to the trade.

Wines served at the Salon:

Nicola Gatta, Cuvèe Nature 30 Lune
Maugeri, Etna Rosato DOC, Contrada Volpare
Maria Faretra, Malbech, Eloquio 2023, IGP

The Salon venue:

Macellaio RC is a growing family of three Italian restaurants in London, by restaurateur Roberto Costa, who also serves as the President of The Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry for the UK.

About the Real Italian Wine & Food Experience:

Real Italian Wine & Food Experience Trade and Show is a next-generation trade expo reimagining how the wine and food industry connects, learns and does business. Designed as a forward-looking platform, the event combines curated tastings, intelligent technology, and experience-led programming to support meaningful commercial outcomes in an evolving global market.

Part of the Wines Experience global series hosted by United Experience, a joint collaboration between Fiere Italiane SEA and BolognaFiere USA, the expo features an intuitive blind tasting area, a lounge-style floor plan that prioritizes conversation and relationship-building, and a smart matchmaking app that enables seamless meeting scheduling before and during the event. An interactive technology area and a robust program of Masterclasses and discussions offer actionable takeaways for buyers, importers, and hospitality leaders, alike.

For more information, visit the Wine Experience website.