Italian Grape Harvest Nears Completion as 2025 Wine Production Matches Last Year

The 2025 Italian grape harvest is nearing completion, with more than 75 percent of the crop already collected across the country. According to Cristian Maretti, president of Legacoop Agroalimentare, this year’s harvest is expected to yield about 44 million hectoliters of wine. This figure is lower than initial forecasts but remains consistent with last year’s production levels.

Maretti explained that the quality of the grapes is high, thanks in part to moderate nighttime temperatures during the growing season. These conditions helped maintain a balance between alcohol content and acidity in the grapes, which is expected to result in exceptional wine quality for the 2025 vintage.

Weather events played a significant role in shaping this year’s harvest. Drought affected some southern regions, while rainfall during the flowering period impacted parts of northern Italy. As a result, areas that saw abundant production in 2024 experienced reductions ranging from 10 to 20 percent this year. Maretti noted that these decreases have contributed to a general rebalancing between supply and demand, discouraging speculative practices that often drive prices down unfairly.

The Italian wine sector faces ongoing challenges from shifting consumer trends and global uncertainties, including trade tariffs and conflicts. Despite these pressures, cooperative wineries have taken a cautious approach. Many leading producers have chosen to absorb increased costs themselves—at least for now—to protect their market share rather than passing those costs on to buyers.

Maretti emphasized that the current lower production levels could help stabilize the market if similar trends are seen in France and Spain. He argued that this scenario leaves little room for speculation or for operators seeking to push prices below sustainable levels. Instead, he called for a targeted approach to managing production, warning against broad measures that would force all regions to cut output equally.

He pointed out that each segment of the wine market has its own characteristics and should be analyzed individually. Some Italian wine regions continue to perform well and even absorb surplus wines from other areas that have invested less in organization and marketing over recent years. Maretti expressed support for a temporary halt on the annual one percent increase in Italian vineyard acreage as a way to further stabilize the sector.

Looking ahead, Maretti said that Italy’s vineyards have shown resilience in the face of adversity. He stressed the importance of promoting Italian wine culture internationally using accurate production data as a foundation for marketing efforts. The cooperative system, he added, will continue working to fine-tune its strategies and improve performance in future harvests.