The first half of 2026 hasn't been kind to Italian wine exports as a whole, but sparkling wine is emerging as the category's bright spot.
While overall exports dropped 6.16% in value to 3.6 billion euros and 4% in volume to 989.6 million liters, sparkling wines bucked the downward trend, edging up 0.4% in value to around 1 billion euros, with volume nearly unchanged at 252.2 million liters (-0.7%).
Market by market, the picture varies. The U.S., Italy's biggest wine buyer overall, spent 263 million euros on Italian sparkling wine — a 6.6% drop, but far softer than the 14.1% slide seen across all Italian wine categories there. U.S. sparkling volumes fell 2.4% to 60 million liters. In the UK, the second-biggest market for Italian sparkling wine by value, the decline was steeper at 10.8%, bringing the total to 151.5 million euros. Germany, meanwhile, moved in the opposite direction, posting 2.7% growth to reach 64.4 million euros.
Prosecco DOC remains the engine behind these numbers. It alone accounted for 825.4 million euros in exports — roughly 82% of the entire sparkling wine category — a modest 1.3% dip from the first half of 2025, with volumes essentially stable at 194.6 million liters (-0.3%). The U.S. is still Prosecco DOC's largest buyer, though purchases there fell 7.2% to 236.9 million euros.
Sparkling wine's relative strength versus still wine isn't a one-off. It fits a broader shift already underway: international buyers are increasingly favoring lower-alcohol wines, which double as popular ingredients in cocktails and mixed drinks.
Source: VinoVistara