Prosecco DOC joins Barcolana 58 to widen its sports marketing reach

Italian sparkling wine producers are putting a growing focus on sports and lifestyle marketing, and Prosecco DOC will take that strategy to one of the Adriatic’s best-known sailing events when it joins Barcolana 58 in Trieste on Oct. 11.

The move comes as Prosecco remains one of the main drivers of Italy’s wine business. According to figures cited by the Prosecco DOC Consortium, 667 million bottles were sold in 2025, with estimated consumer value of more than €3.6 billion. The consortium said exports account for more than 82% of sales, underscoring how strongly the denomination depends on overseas demand.

Industry groups in Italy have long linked that growth to a broader rise in sparkling wine consumption. Producers say Italian sparkling wines have moved beyond holiday and special-occasion drinking and are now consumed across seasons and meal settings, from traditional cuisine to more modern food pairings. They also argue that lighter, fresher styles have found an audience among younger consumers, although that trend varies by market.

For Prosecco DOC, the immediate objective is also to broaden how the brand is presented. The consortium has increased its profile through sports partnerships, including deals tied to the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, MotoGP, the Internazionali BNL d’Italia tennis tournament, and Imoco Volley Conegliano, one of Italy’s top women’s volleyball teams. Sailing is a central part of that strategy, and the consortium is again backing the 90-foot racing yacht Shockwave3 as a gold sponsor and official sparkling wine partner.

The Barcolana, held each year in the Gulf of Trieste, offers a highly visible setting for that effort. The regatta is one of the largest sailing events in the world by participation and has become a major public event for the city and the wider region. For wine groups, it offers access not only to sailing audiences but also to tourism, hospitality, and corporate networking.

The Prosecco DOC Consortium said its work in sports is not aimed only at brand visibility, but at building relationships and experiences around the denomination. In that approach, Shockwave3 has become more than a race boat. The consortium describes the yacht as a platform for events, meetings, and hospitality tied to the identity of northeastern Italy. It has used the slogan “Connecting People” to describe that role, presenting the boat as a place where companies, guests, and institutions can meet around racing and wine.

That model has included events that mix sailing with food and hospitality. One example has been “Maxi On Cooking Star,” an initiative in which chefs have taken part in regattas before moving into cooking competitions. The concept reflects a wider trend in wine marketing, where producers seek to connect their labels to experiences rather than relying only on traditional trade promotion.

The sailing partnership has also produced racing results that the consortium is using in its messaging. In 2026, Shockwave3 took line honors in the 40th Brindisi-Corfu International Regatta and set a new absolute race record. The yacht covered the 104-nautical-mile course in 6 hours, 23 minutes and 57 seconds, improving a mark that had stood for 21 years. It also made its debut in the Aegean 600, a 605-nautical-mile offshore race around the Aegean Sea that starts and finishes at Cape Sounion in Greece. There too, Shockwave3 took line honors, finishing 2 minutes and 9 seconds ahead of Aiolos after a close race.

The Trieste event will also host another project linking sailing and local wine culture. At Barcolana 58, a collaboration is being launched involving New Zealand Endeavour, the Associazione Viticoltori del Carso, and GAL Carso-Las Kras. Organizers said the partnership will include a mainsail carrying the phrase “Mare e Vitovska in Morje” and tasting moments on board focused on Vitovska, the white grape closely associated with the Karst area around Trieste.

That initiative ties the regatta to a more local story than the global profile of Prosecco. The Karst, or Carso, straddles the border area around Trieste and is known for harsh winds, limestone soils, and a distinct wine tradition. For regional wine growers, the Barcolana provides a chance to present that identity to an international audience already gathered around the event.

New Zealand Endeavour brings its own history to the project. The 26-meter maxi yacht was designed by Bruce Farr and sailed to victory by Grant Dalton in the 1993-94 Whitbread Round the World Race, the event now known as The Ocean Race. During that campaign, the boat covered more than 32,000 miles and became one of the better-known maxi yachts of its era.

After years out of service, the yacht was restored in a project intended to preserve a piece of ocean-racing history. Organizers say Trieste and the Gulf now serve as its home port, with the Bora wind and the Karst landscape giving the vessel a new connection to the area. Under the Barcolana collaboration, the boat will also carry wines from the region in the seas where it races.

The combined presence of Prosecco DOC and Karst wine producers at Barcolana reflects two different but related strategies in Italian wine. One is based on scale, export strength, and global sponsorships. The other is tied to local identity and regional storytelling. Both are using sailing as a public stage in Trieste, where sport, tourism, and food culture meet in front of a large international audience.