2026-09-08
Puglia is entering the 2026 grape harvest with 4,286,827 hectoliters of wine still in storage from the previous campaign and with regional output expected to rise by about 10% from 2025, a combination that is increasing pressure on prices, cash flow and storage capacity in one of Italy’s main wine regions.
The warning came as the harvest got underway and as two major farm organizations, Coldiretti Puglia and Confagricoltura Puglia, pressed for emergency and structural measures to deal with excess supply. Their proposals were presented in regional meetings on Tuesday, including a session of Puglia’s wine committee and a separate discussion organized by Confagricoltura with Italian Agriculture Undersecretary Patrizio Giacomo La Pietra.
The regional concern is part of a broader national buildup in inventories. According to the ICQRF’s Cantina Italia report, as cited by the agricultural publication Terra e Vita, Italy had 42.6 million hectoliters of wine in storage as of July 31, up 6.9% from a year earlier. That implies roughly 39.85 million hectoliters at the same point in 2025, or about 2.75 million hectoliters less than this year. Puglia’s 4.29 million hectoliters represent about 10.1% of the national total.
For growers and wineries, the problem is timing as much as volume. New wine is now beginning to arrive at cellars that are already carrying large stocks from the previous season. Industry groups said the 2026 crop looks strong in quality, with healthy grapes, but the market has been slow to absorb existing supplies. In that setting, a bigger harvest can add to the strain on producer margins and short-term financing.
Coldiretti Puglia called for what it described as an extraordinary plan for the region’s wine sector. The group said the first need is a reliable and updated vineyard registry so authorities and producers have a clear picture of planted area, grape varieties, production potential and the condition of vineyards across the region. It argued that better data are necessary before any effective policy response can be designed.
The organization also asked for incentives for voluntary vineyard removal where plots are no longer economically sustainable. At the same time, it said it makes little sense to pay growers to pull out vines while allowing the authorized vineyard area to keep expanding under the existing annual 1% increase mechanism. Coldiretti wants that increase suspended for now in Puglia while the market remains under pressure.
Another central request is crisis distillation, a tool that removes excess wine from the commercial market by channeling it into industrial uses. Coldiretti said the measure would need to be adequately funded to make a real difference in reducing surpluses. The group also asked for a review of the EU wine market framework, known in Italy as the OCM, saying the system has not been adapted enough to changes in consumption, production costs, distribution channels and global competition over the past 24 years.
Alongside supply controls, Coldiretti urged a broader campaign to support demand. It said the region needs stronger promotion of Puglian wine, wine tourism and links between wine, agriculture and territory. The group argued that the sector cannot rely only on removing product from the market and must also work to improve sales and consumer awareness.
Confagricoltura Puglia presented a partly overlapping plan but placed stronger emphasis on liquidity, legality and enforcement. The group said the region should move quickly to update the graphic vineyard register with its own resources rather than wait for delays in the national SIAN data system. It pointed to other regions, including Veneto, Tuscany and Piedmont, as examples of local action to verify vineyard records and distinguish compliant plantings from irregular ones.
On stocks, Confagricoltura asked for immediate crisis measures including distillation and private storage, funded through the European agricultural reserve or national and regional resources rather than by diverting money from existing wine programs for promotion, investment and restructuring. It also backed a revival of the so-called rotating pledge, a financing tool that allows wineries to use stored wine as collateral for bank credit in order to improve liquidity.
The group also called for tighter quality and anti-fraud controls. Its proposal included enforcing the 300-quintal-per-hectare limit for common wines and increasing checks against the illegal vinification of table grapes. Confagricoltura said those practices damage the image of the region’s wine industry and put further downward pressure on prices for compliant producers.
La Pietra, the agriculture undersecretary, said the government recognizes the importance of the wine sector and pointed to existing support measures, including promotion campaigns, steps on plant disease management, investments in wine tourism, export labeling and a new sanctions law aimed at strengthening action against fraud in the food sector. On the idea of vineyard uprooting to curb supply, he signaled caution, saying the measure affects rural territory and does not have unanimous support among stakeholders. He said he would still focus on quality, production and stronger market positioning.
The 10% increase expected for Puglia’s 2026 harvest comes from Coldiretti’s estimate and was presented without an absolute production figure. Even so, farm groups say the direction of travel is clear enough to justify urgent intervention while the harvest is still unfolding. With more grapes arriving each day and tanks already carrying large volumes from last season, the debate in Puglia has shifted from whether there is an oversupply problem to which tools regional and national authorities are willing to activate first.