Italy's wine towards Vinitaly amid anti-dazi recipes and threats of EU clampdown on health labels
In Verona from 12 to 15 April, sector looking for countermeasures to the drop in exports and consumption. Health warning on labels, supply chain against Brussels: 'Do not equate wine and spirits'
Tighten ranks and react. This is the imperative the world of Italia wine has given itself after a complex 2025. Trump's tariffs have caused sales in the United States to fall by 9.2% (almost 180 million euro less), the main outlet for Italian wine, thus weighing down the entire export market (which closed the year at -3.7%), which has always been the sector's growth driver.
The return of the health warnigs
And tariffs are not the only threat. It was Thursday's news, relaunched by the Italian Wine Union, of the Health Commission's request to Brussels to speed up health warnings on labels for products containing alcohol. A proposal that does not distinguish between wine and spirits, between abuse and moderate consumption and that would end up putting health warnings on wine bottles, in the wake of what has been happening for years with cigarette packets.
The wine numbers...
International markets and health offensives will be among the main topics at the centre of the 58th Vinitaly (Sunday 12-15 April at Veronafiere), the key appointment for a sector, that of Italian wine, with 530 thousand companies (4 thousand of which are present in Verona), 670 thousand hectares of vineyards, 870 thousand employees and a turnover of 14 billion euro (rising to 31 billion with allied industries), 7.78 of which on foreign markets.
Without forgetting that Made in Italy wine also fulfils other functions that are perhaps less measurable but of certain impact. It has always been an ambassador of made-in-Italy quality and the Italian lifestyle, while wine-growing also performs an important function of territorial protection. Cultivated and 'combed' vineyards can be seen in every region of Italy and are now a characteristic element of the Italian landscape. A lever, moreover, of strong attractiveness considering the steadily growing numbers registered by tourism in wine territories. It is no coincidence that Vinitaly's new features include a section dedicated to enotourism as well as spaces dedicated to mixology and alcohol-free wines.
... and those of Vinitaly
Vinitaly will therefore focus on international markets with the difficulties linked to Trump's tariffs, but also the new opportunities that may open up for the sector with the recent international agreements signed with Mercosur, India and Australia. Agreements that will introduce a near-zeroing of tariffs on wine imports to date.
