The study

Sicilian wine, the future lies in targeted exports and wine tourism

The Nomisma Wine Monitor report for UniCredit, presented in Palermo with the launch of Sicilia en Primeur 2026, photographs an island that is holding its own on international markets, driven by PDO white wines, and identifies wineries and territories as an increasingly strong lever of attraction and growth on the tourism front

by Nino Amadore

22 April 2026

La presentazione Mariangela Cambria, presidente di Assovini di Sicilia En Primeur 2026 che si terrà a Palermo a maggio

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Sicilian wine is preparing for the coming years with a double objective: defending exports in a more fragile international scenario and transforming wine tourism into a stable lever of growth. This is the picture that emerges from the Nomisma Wine Monitor research for UniCredit, presented today in Palermo together with the 2026 edition of Sicilia en Primeur, scheduled in the capital from 11 to 15 May.

In 2025, world wine exports fell again and Italy's exports also fell by 3.6% in value. But within this framework, Sicily has shown greater resilience than other territories. Wine exports from the island reached 153.3 million euro, slightly up on 2024 and more than 50% higher than in 2015. The United States remains the leading market with 22% of the total, followed by Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Canada. Sicilian PDO whites are the main driving force, up 2.4% in value, with growth of 8.4% in the USA. Suffering more, on the other hand, were PDO reds, which lost 11%.

The trend coincides with the evolution of consumption. In Italia, the weight of reds is decreasing, while there is growing attention to whites and to wines more tied to their origin and territory. Sicily appears to be in line with this market change: whites are worth over 64% of the regional production and the share of PDO and PGI wines is close to 80%, above the national average. The future, therefore, will be played less and less on volumes and more and more on positioning, identity and perceived quality.

In this strategy, wine tourism becomes a decisive element. For Italian wineries, it is already worth 3.1 billion euros and generates an average expenditure of 123 euros for the purchase of wine in the cellar, 41 euros for tasting and 145 euros for an overnight stay. In Sicily, the phenomenon has an even more international profile: the clientele is mainly made up of foreigners, particularly Americans, Germans and British. And there is one figure that weighs in: in the Etna municipalities linked to the Etna Doc specification, tourist arrivals grew by 17.4% between 2019 and 2024, against a regional average of 12.4%.

Even more significant is the figure for Americans. Among US wine tourists who want to experience Italy in the next two or three years, 26% indicate Tuscany and 16% Sicily. The island is already the second destination evoked, and this places it in a favourable position in one of the most important markets for regional wine.

"The wine-growing sector, which represents a strategic pillar for the Sicilian economy, now finds itself operating in a complex global context, in which old and new challenges are, however, flanked by significant opportunities, such as the rise of wine tourism, a strategic lever to support competitiveness, attractiveness and enhancement of the territory," says Salvatore Malandrino, Regional Manager of Sicily at UniCredit. "UniCredit renews its commitment to accompanying businesses along this path, through credit, a dedicated service model and specialist advice.

Mariangela Cambria, president of Assovini Sicilia, is along the same lines, linking the growth of wine tourism to the ability to defend the identity of wine: 'Assovini Sicilia is betting on wine tourism not only as a strategy but as an asset of our wineries, which are responding dynamically to the new challenges of the wine world. Wine tourism allows us to tell the story of wine as a cultural product and part of a wider context, where landscape, stories, producers and gastronomy coexist. The winery is not a restaurant for weddings, as my friend Diego Planeta used to say: wine tourism yes, if the true soul of wine is preserved'.

The game will shift here: less dependence on trade flows alone, more ability to retain value in the territories. If Sicily knows how to transform its reputational advantage into experiences consistent with the identity of the wineries and capable of speaking to an international audience, it will be able to strengthen export, brand and marginality together.