Oltrepò Pavese wine exports rose nearly 60% in four years

Wine exports from Italy’s Oltrepò Pavese are rising faster than the national average, giving new support to a wine district that has spent years trying to rebuild its standing at home and abroad.

New figures presented in the strategic report “Visione Vino 2026 - Deep Roots, Long View,” prepared by The European House Ambrosetti Group for the Community Visione Vino forum, show that wine exports from the province of Pavia climbed by nearly 60% in four years, increasing from 25.2 million euros in 2021 to 40.2 million euros in 2025. The report says the average annual growth rate was 9.5%, compared with 1.6% for Italian wine exports over the same period.

Most of that performance is tied to Oltrepò Pavese, the wine area south of Milan that makes up the large majority of the province’s wine business and is widely known for Pinot Noir. The report describes the territory as one of Lombardy’s most specialized wine-producing areas and says 99% of beverage companies in the province of Pavia are wine producers.

The numbers also underline the weight of Oltrepò Pavese within the regional industry. With more than 11,500 hectares of vineyards, it accounts for the largest planted vineyard area in Lombardy and contributes 48% of the wine produced in the region, according to the report. It is also Italy’s leading area for Pinot Noir production, with about 3,000 hectares, equal to 29% of the national total.

Sparkling wine production has also expanded in recent years. The report says output rose from 10,000 hectoliters to 19,000 hectoliters by 2025. Industry representatives link part of that momentum to the updated production rules for the region’s traditional-method DOCG sparkling wine, which have helped relaunch the historic “Classese” name in domestic and international markets and strengthen the identity of Pinot Noir from Oltrepò Pavese.

Benedetta Brioschi, partner and head of food and retail at TEHA Group, said the area now has the industrial base and export trend needed to support a stronger market position, but argued that further gains depend on better coordination across the territory.

“The data show that Oltrepò Pavese has a production base and export momentum that can support a step up in positioning,” Brioschi said. “But the decisive point is to work as a system: connect businesses, the territory, tourism and the story of the appellations more closely, turning the name recognition of Oltrepò into knowledge and value for its wines. Growth in foreign markets and wine tourism can move forward together, strengthening the entire Lombardy supply chain.”

That gap between recognition of the place and knowledge of the product remains one of the main issues highlighted in the report. A consumer survey conducted for Community Visione Vino on a representative sample of Italian consumers found that 83% said they know Oltrepò Pavese, while 58% said they know its wines, a difference of 25 percentage points.

At the same time, the area appears to have room to grow as a tourism destination. According to the survey, 72% of respondents said they would be interested in visiting Oltrepò Pavese through a food, wine and cultural itinerary. Of those, 23% said they would consider doing so within the next 12 months, while 49% said they would be interested in the near future. Another 18% said they would like to learn more about that possibility.

For the authors of the report, that suggests wine tourism could become a direct link between the territory’s broad name recognition and a deeper understanding of what it produces. In practical terms, that would mean stronger ties between wineries, consumers and the places where the wines are made, at a time when many Italian wine regions are trying to combine export promotion with local tourism development.

The production system behind that effort is sizeable. The Consorzio Classese Oltrepò Pavese, led by president Francesca Seralvo of Tenuta Mazzolino and director general Riccardo Binda, now brings together 150 directly associated companies, along with hundreds of indirect members who supply cooperative wineries. The production covered by that network comes from 11,539 hectares and amounts to about 25 million bottles a year.

Those figures are especially significant in a region like Lombardy, which has 22,463 hectares of vineyards in total. That means Oltrepò Pavese alone represents roughly half of the region’s planted vineyard area, reinforcing its role as the main driver of Lombardy’s wine output and one of the region’s central assets in export markets.

The report also points to signs of strong wine culture inside Lombardy itself, not only in the vineyard but in household spending. Average family spending on wine reaches 248 euros in the Lecco area, 239 euros in Pavia and 236 euros in Milan, all well above the Italian average of 148 euros. That suggests Lombardy is not only an important production region but also a significant domestic market for wine.

For Oltrepò Pavese, the combination of export growth, a strong Pinot Noir base and rising interest in wine tourism offers evidence that the region’s long effort to reposition itself is beginning to show measurable results. The challenge now is whether producers, local institutions and consortia can turn that progress into a broader and more durable presence in both foreign markets and the minds of consumers who know the name of the territory but not yet the full value of its wines.