Vinitaly USA: How Italian Wine Really Gets to America
Vinitaly, Italy’s biggest wine fair, lives in Verona every April, but it also travels. On 26 and 27 October 2026, Vinitaly USA set up on a pier in New York, after a run in Chicago. About 300 Italian producers came along, with around 2,500 wines to pour.
Why take an Italian wine fair to America, and how does Italian wine actually get there? Let’s follow the bottle.
Quick Facts
- What: Vinitaly USA is the American edition of Vinitaly, Italy’s biggest wine fair
- When and where: 26 and 27 October 2026, at Pier 36 in New York
- Why America: the US is Italy’s biggest wine market, worth €1.75 billion in 2025
- Home base: Vinitaly itself is held in Verona every April
- The big question: does a busy fair turn into actual sales?
What Is Vinitaly USA?
Vinitaly is the big Italian wine fair, held in Verona each April. Vinitaly USA (officially Vinitaly.USA) is its American edition, run by Veronafiere with the Italian Trade Agency. It’s built for the people who decide what reaches American shelves and wine lists: importers, distributors, restaurants and shops.
In 2026, it left Chicago and moved to New York. About 300 Italian companies showed around 2,500 labels at Pier 36.
Why Take Vinitaly to America?
Mainly because America is Italy’s biggest wine customer. Italy exported €7.7 billion of wine in 2025, down 3.7% on 2024, according to Istat data reported by Vinetur. The US took €1.75 billion of that, about 23% of the total (my own sum). Germany came next at €1.14 billion, then the UK at €816.8 million and Canada at €420.7 million.
However, 2025 was not a good year in the US. Italy’s sales there fell 9.1% in value and 6.2% in volume. Vinetur points to the new tariffs, a weaker dollar and declining US consumption.
Italy vs France: More Bottles, Less Money
Here’s the part I find fascinating. According to an analysis of US customs data by the Spanish wine organisation OIVE, reported by Vinetur, the US imported about 1.2 billion litres of wine in 2025, worth €5.54 billion.
| 2025 | Italy | France |
|---|---|---|
| Volume | 352.9 million litres (1st) | 188.3 million litres (2nd) |
| Value | €1.81 billion (2nd) | €2.13 billion (1st) |
| Value per litre (my sum) | About €5.12 | About €11.31 |
In other words, Italy sells America nearly twice the wine France does, and still earns less. It sounds backwards, so I re-ran the sum. These are averages across everything from bulk wine to sparkling, so they don’t mean every Italian bottle is cheap. They do show why Italian producers keep trying to move up the price ladder.
How Italian Wine Gets to an American Shelf
Most American wine goes through three steps, called the three-tier system. According to VinePair, the tiers are:
- Producers and importers: a foreign winery sells to an importer, who brings the wine into the US
- Distributors: they handle storage, transport and relationships with shops and restaurants
- Retailers: bottle shops, restaurants and bars, which sell to the public
The system dates back to the end of Prohibition in 1933, and each state sets its own rules. It’s meant to stop one company from owning production, distribution and sale. The catch is that each step adds cost. VinePair says a bottle can end up with a markup of 150% or more, which hurts smaller producers most.
For a small Italian winery, this means one thing: without an importer and a distributor who believe in the wine, it won’t reach a shelf. That’s exactly the problem Vinitaly USA is built to solve.
The Tariff Twist
US tariffs on European wine took effect in August 2025. According to Il Sole 24 Ore, Italian exports to the US then declined for about a year.
Recently, the picture has improved. Il Sole 24 Ore reports a 17% surge in exports between July and September 2026, and the decline in export value so far this year narrowed from 14% in June to 6% in September. Average prices rose 9.5%, and red wine turnover in the US recovered 33% over the summer quarter.
But look closely. The same article says the rebound is partly down to the depletion of stockpiles US buyers had built up before the tariffs. In other words, some of the recovery may be buyers re-ordering, not new fans.
Room to Grow
The UIV-Vinitaly Observatory counts about 35 million consumers of Italian wine overseas, according to Il Sole 24 Ore. It also says the US has almost 90 million regular wine drinkers, and that Italian wine has over 50 million potential fans not yet won over.
That gap between today’s customers and tomorrow’s is what producers hope to close.
How the 2026 Edition Opened
The guest list at the opening mixed wine and football. Alessandro Del Piero, the former Juventus captain, took part as a Serie A ambassador. Serie A works with the Italian Trade Agency and Italy’s foreign ministry, and sends former stars to trade fairs to promote Italian business abroad, according to Inside World Football.
Del Piero joined the ribbon-cutting and then visited the stands of Italian producers. Also there were Matteo Zoppas of the Italian Trade Agency, Federico Bricolo of Veronafiere and Marco Peronaci, Italy’s ambassador to the US.
It’s a good pairing. Football and wine are two things Italians will happily argue about for hours, and both travel well. Then the real work began, with more than 1,690 business meetings over two days, according to the organisers.
What Vinitaly USA 2026 Delivered
According to the organisers’ closing figures, reported by Soldi Online, the New York event had:
- More than 3,000 industry professionals from 40 countries and 20 US states, 36% more than Chicago in 2025
- More than 1,690 business meetings
- Nearly 800 top buyers invited from the US, Canada and Mexico
- 60% of attendees from purchasing, distribution and hospitality
That is the three-tier system in one room: producers meeting importers and distributors. Still, these are the organisers’ figures, and they measure meetings, not sales. Matteo Zoppas, president of the Italian Trade Agency, called it a very critical moment for the category, according to Soldi Online. Nobody has published how many of those meetings turned into orders.
What I couldn’t find: the date of the next edition, and whether the public can attend. Check the official Vinitaly site before you plan anything.
What It Means If You’re Buying
If you’re in America, the Italian wines on your shelf are the ones an importer chose to bring in. That makes the importer a kind of filter. This is my own tip, not a rule: check the back label for the importer’s name, and if you like a bottle, look for what else they bring in.
It’s also a good reason to look beyond the famous names. My post on lesser-known Italian grapes is a good place to start, and my list of the best Italian wines under €20 shows what good value looks like.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Vinitaly USA? The American edition of Vinitaly, Italy’s biggest wine fair. It connects Italian producers with US importers, distributors and buyers.
When and where was Vinitaly USA 2026? On 26 and 27 October 2026, at Pier 36 in New York.
What does Vinitaly mean? Vini is Italian for wines, and the name plays on Italy. That’s my reading of the name, since the sources I used don’t spell it out.
Why is Vinitaly held in America? The likely reason is that the US is Italy’s biggest wine market, worth €1.75 billion in 2025. A fair there puts producers in front of US importers and distributors.
Did any wines win awards at Vinitaly USA 2026? I found no award announcements from the New York edition. Vinitaly’s own awards, the 5StarWines trophies, are presented at the Verona edition in April. For a different award story, see my post on alcohol-free Italian wine that just won gold.
Does the US buy more wine from Italy or France? Italy sends more by volume, and France earns more by value. In 2025, Italy supplied 352.9 million litres worth €1.81 billion, while France supplied 188.3 million litres worth €2.13 billion.
Did the tariffs hurt Italian wine? Italian wine sales to the US fell 9.1% in value in 2025, and Vinetur points to the new tariffs, a weaker dollar and falling US consumption.
One Last Thing
I like that a winery in a small Italian village can end up on a shelf across the Atlantic, even if a lot has to go right first. Next time you pick up an Italian bottle abroad, remember how far it came.
Have you found an Italian wine in your local shop that surprised you? Tell me which one.
— Kelly 🍷
#Vinitaly #VinitalyUSA #ItalianWine #WineBusiness
Continue Reading
- Italian Wine Exports Are Falling. Asti Just Grew 35% Anyway.
- Italy Has Hundreds of Wine Grapes. So Why Do We Keep Drinking the Same Few?
- Best Italian Wines Under €20
Sources
- Vinetur: Italian wine exports fall 3.7% in 2025 after record year
- Vinetur: US wine imports drop 11.6% in value as demand weakens in 2025
- VinePair: The three-tier system, explained
- Inside World Football: Serie A’s Alessandro Del Piero fronts Italian wine mission in New York
- Il Sole 24 Ore: At Vinitaly.USA, Italian wineries are seeking new consumers
- Soldi Online: Vinitaly.USA in New York, 3,000 operators and 1,690 meetings
Figures are for 2025 unless stated, and the 2026 figures cover the months reported so far. Information checked in November 2026.
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