Italy Begins the 2026 Harvest With 42.5 Million Hectoliters of Wine Still in Storage

Italy is entering the 2026 grape harvest with more wine in storage than it had a year ago, even after a sharp monthly drawdown, according to the latest Cantina Italia report from the Agriculture Ministry’s ICQRF inspectorate. The report, dated Aug. 10 and based on electronic wine registry data from about 23,500 operators, showed that Italian cellars held 42.5 million hectoliters of wine as of July 31.

That volume was down 8.6% from June 30, a reduction of 3,999,985 hectoliters, but still up 6.9% from July 31, 2025, an increase of 2,729,594 hectoliters. The figures were cited again in industry coverage published Aug. 18 as the harvest began in several wine regions under very hot and dry conditions.

The stockpile remains concentrated in northern Italy. ICQRF said 55.9% of the country’s stored wine was held in the North, with Veneto alone accounting for 24.2% of the national total. Treviso and Verona were the two largest provinces by volume. By region, Veneto held 10.28 million hectoliters, followed by Tuscany with 5.38 million, Puglia with 4.29 million, Emilia-Romagna with 4.01 million and Piedmont with 3.88 million.

Protected appellation wines made up most of what remained in storage. Wines with DOP status represented 55.4% of national inventories, while IGP wines accounted for 25.8%. Varietal wines were 1.7%, and table wines and other categories made up 17.1%. Among DOP and IGP wines, inventories were heavily concentrated in a limited number of names. ICQRF said 20 denominations out of 523 registered geographic indications represented 57.6% of stored DOP and IGP wine. Prosecco alone accounted for 3.24 million hectoliters, the largest single share. Other large categories included Toscana, Puglia, Chianti, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, Terre Siciliane and Sicilia.

Italy was also holding 3.1 million hectoliters of must as of July 31, up 31.5% from a year earlier, although down 17.4% from the end of June. More than half of the country’s must stocks were in the North, and nearly one-third were in the South. Puglia, Emilia-Romagna and Piedmont together held 66.9% of total must inventories.

The inventory data is landing at a sensitive moment for the Italian wine sector. Industry groups and regional officials have been moving to curb output before the harvest in an effort to keep supply closer to demand. In Tuscany, regional authorities approved lower authorized yields for Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, Chianti DOCG, Chianti Classico DOCG and Toscana IGT after requests from the relevant protection consortia. Tuscany agriculture official Leonardo Marras said the competitiveness of Tuscan wine depends on value rather than volume.

Abruzzo also cut the maximum yield for Montepulciano d’Abruzzo DOC to 135 quintals per hectare from 150, while placing 25 quintals per hectare in a harvest reserve until June 30, 2028. In Marche, the regional wine protection institute asked for lower yields and storage measures for Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi DOC to rebalance supply. The Delle Venezie DOC, which covers Pinot Grigio production across Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and the autonomous province of Trento, reduced its maximum yield to 160 quintals per hectare from 180, with administrative storage for production above the free quota.

The market backdrop has added to the pressure. The Aug. 18 industry coverage cited Carlo Flamini of the Unione Italiana Vini observatory as saying global wine consumption fell about 16% from 2019 to 2025, to 19.8 billion liters. It also cited Coldiretti data showing Italian wine exports fell 7% in value in the first four months of 2026, including a 15% drop in the United States. Higher production costs have added to the strain. According to Divulga’s research center, tensions linked to the war in Iran raised per-hectare costs by about 250 euros for energy, fertilizer and materials.

Regional imbalances remain pronounced. Puglia’s cellars held 4.29 million hectoliters of wine at the end of July, making it the third-largest regional stockholder after Veneto and Tuscany. Industry group Cia Puglia said the region was beginning the harvest with at least 5 million hectoliters still unsold, more than 3 million of them under DOP and IGP labels. In Sicily, where inventories stood at 2.69 million hectoliters, agricultural cooperatives and trade groups have called for crisis distillation, an EU measure that removes excess wine from the market by converting it into alcohol for industrial use.

The supply issue is unfolding alongside an early harvest driven by heat and drought. The Aug. 18 coverage said the 2026 harvest had started nearly two weeks ahead of the historic average in some areas, from Oltrepò Pavese to western Sicily. It reported that four heat waves accelerated ripening across the country. In Sardinia, temperatures exceeded 104 degrees Fahrenheit, with sharp day-night swings. In Franciacorta, Berlucchi began what it described as the first night harvest in its history to protect workers from the heat and bring cooler grapes into the winery. In Canavese, near Turin, producer Fratelli Borsetto said harvesting was running about 30 days ahead of the usual schedule.

Coldiretti estimates that the 2026 harvest could stretch for nearly five months, from sparkling wine base grapes picked at the end of July to late-ripening fruit on Mount Etna harvested between mid-September and November. The organization says Italy’s wine sector includes about 241,000 wine-growing businesses on 681,000 cultivated hectares, with annual revenue close to 14 billion euros. In Rome, Senate Vice President Gian Marco Centinaio, a former agriculture minister, has written to Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida urging tighter management of new vineyard plantings and easier removal or conversion of less competitive vineyards.