Exports and stocks paint a tight market. Wine tourism is the counter-trend.
Around 18 million Italians are expected to seek wine-linked experiences in 2026 — roughly 4.5 million more than in 2024 — according to the Garibaldi report summarised by WineItaly24. That is not a tiny hobby. It is a mass shift toward place, story, and time spent among the rows.
Behaviour inside the visit changed too. Tastings rose from 49% to 64% of participants. Winery visits rose from 32% to 46%. Guests want the family story, the meal, the walk between vines — not only a souvenir bottle shoved into a bag. They are buying a reason to care.
Remember the pattern: drink less on average, pay more for place. When volumes stall at home, hospitality can still grow the brand and the margin. A random can wins a night with no plan. A vineyard visit wins when someone wants a memory worth opening later.
If you take one thing from this story, make it this: the vineyard experience can grow while bottles at home shrink. That is how wine stays an intentional choice in a thinner drinking calendar.