T. Ozbun
Research expert covering food retail and all food topics for Italy and Brazil
Wine companies in Italy - statistics & facts
Wine is a staple of Italy and Italian culture, as is shown by the country’s consumption volume, one of the highest in the world, both in terms of total liters consumed and per capita consumption. However, Italy is not only good at drinking wine, but also at producing it. Italy dominates the global wine production market; more than 50 million hectoliters of wine were produced in 2021, a quarter of which coming from just one region, Veneto. The total area cultivated for grape harvest in Italy amounted to about 651 thousand hectares in that same year.
Northeastern dominance
Many small, local, and family-owned wineries contribute to these figures, but obviously larger entities, often in the form of wine cooperatives, contribute more significantly. The leading ten wineries in the country together accounted for a turnover of close to 3.6 billion euros in 2021. Most of these wineries had their headquarters or one of their main wineries in Veneto, followed by Emilia-Romagna and Trentino-Alto Adige. However, they most often owned vineyards not only in their local region, but also in other regions of the country.Geographical distribution
Veneto-based wine companies were Botter, Santa Margherita, Zonin, and Gruppo Italiano Vini, which also had wineries in ten other regions. Italian Wine Brands, although headquartered in Lombardy and with wineries in four other regions of the peninsula, also had two wineries in Veneto. Emilia-Romagna-based wine companies were Caviro, and Cantine Riunite, part of Italy's largest wine company together with Gruppo Italiano Vini, which had combined sales of more than 635 million euros in 2021. Trentino-Alto Adige based companies were Cavit and Mezzacorona, while Antinori was based in Tuscany with wineries in three other Italian regions as well. Thanks to their growing revenues, these companies were able to expand beyond national borders, gaining importance and relevance abroad. This has enabled them to contribute to Italy’s wine exports, which exceeded 22 million hectoliters in 2021, many of which went to countries such as the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom
