Italy’s Wine Stocks Stay Elevated in March

Italy’s wine inventories remained high in March, underscoring the pressure that large stocks continue to place on the sector as producers and traders move through another year of heavy supply.

The latest update from the ICQRF, Italy’s central inspection agency for food quality and fraud prevention, showed 55.9 million hectoliters of wine in storage as of March 31, 2026, up 5.7% from the same date in 2025. The figure was slightly below the 5.8% year-over-year increase reported at the end of February, but it still pointed to a market with abundant supply.

The March report also counted 5.3 million hectoliters of musts, up 32.4% from a year earlier, and 165,263 hectoliters of new wine still fermenting, known in Italy as vino nuovo ancora in fermentazione, or Vnaif. That category rose 8.3% from March 2025, though it fell sharply from the previous month’s level.

Compared with Feb. 28, inventories were lower across all three categories. Wine stocks fell 4.7%, musts declined 10.8% and Vnaif dropped 60.8%. Even so, the overall volume remained elevated by historical standards.

The composition of stocks changed little from previous months. Wines with protected designation of origin accounted for 53.9% of all wine held in storage, including 26.2% white wines and 26.1% red wines. Protected geographical indication wines made up 26.5% of the total. Varietal wines represented 1.6%, while other wines accounted for 18%.

The concentration of inventories remained high as well. Among wines with geographical indications, just 20 denominations out of 523 accounted for 58.3% of total stocks.

Geography also continued to shape where wine was being held. Northern Italy stored 56.5% of all wine inventories, and Veneto alone held 25.7% of the national total.

Prosecco DOC remained the single largest denomination in storage, representing 11.3% of inventories. It was followed by Puglia IGP at 4.5% and Toscana IGP at 3.9%. Together, those three designations accounted for nearly one-fifth of all wine stocks in Italy.

The data point to a sector still working through a large volume of product after years in which production, demand and export flows have not fully aligned, leaving wineries with substantial stock levels as they manage sales and cellar space into spring.