TL;DR

In Episode 17 of the Wine Investing Podcast on Spotify, out now, we break down exactly why Italy is the most interesting story in the market today. The episode covers the following key topics:

• Why Italian wine trades at a discount to French wine.

• The rise of Super Tuscans and Chianti Classico.

• The "Burgundification" of Piedmont and single-vineyard Barolo.

• How to evaluate producer strength, labels, and vintages.

• Why broad regional exposure is not enough to guarantee returns.

Why is Italian fine wine catching investors' attention?

When people think about fine wine investment, they traditionally look to France. Regions like Bordeaux and Burgundy built the modern market with historic classifications and deep auction records. However, as we discussed in our new podcast episode, one of the most compelling stories today is unfolding in Italy. Italian wine has recently transitioned into a globally recognised, actively traded investment category.

The primary investment case for Italy begins with a persistent gap between quality and price. Historically, the Italian market was heavily fragmented with hundreds of indigenous grape varieties, making it difficult for international buyers to navigate. Today, that information gap has narrowed significantly. Between 2003 and 2025, average critic scores for investment-grade wines from Tuscany and Piedmont rose to just under 95 points, outpacing the global average of approximately 93.8 points.

Over the same period, Italy's share of global professional wine reviews jumped from 4.4% to 12.4%. This level of critical praise helps translate local reputation into international demand, explaining exactly why Italy should become bedrock of wine investing strategies. Despite this recognition, many leading Italian wines still trade at substantial discounts to comparable bottles from Burgundy, Bordeaux, or Napa Valley.

What did the podcast reveal about the Tuscan wine market?

If you want to know how to invest in Tuscan wine, it is important to recognise that Tuscany is arguably the more established of Italy's two premier investment markets. Its investment universe includes Brunello di Montalcino, leading Chianti Classico producers, and the famous Super Tuscans.

The Super Tuscan category emerged during the 1970s when ambitious producers began using international grape varieties outside of established regional classification rules. The quality of these wines quickly attracted global attention. Today, names like Sassicaia, Tignanello, Ornellaia, Masseto, and Solaia combine strong brands, long drinking windows, substantial critical coverage, and active secondary markets. According to our analysis shared on the podcast, leading Super Tuscans have historically delivered stronger annualised returns and greater market liquidity than many top Napa Valley Cabernet-based wines.

Tuscany also displays very low historical volatility. This stability is partly because many leading Tuscan wines are produced in greater quantities than the rarest wines of Burgundy, which supports more regular trading and reliable price discovery. Additionally, Tuscan wine is actively consumed by casual drinkers as well as collectors. This means that stock is gradually removed from the market, creating a natural relationship between investment demand and end consumption.

What is the "Burgundification" of Piedmont?

For investors exploring how to invest in Piedmont fine wine, the podcast highlights that the market behaves very differently from Tuscany. Piedmont is located in northern Italy, and its principal investment wines are Barolo and Barbaresco, both made from the Nebbiolo grape.

Piedmont is increasingly compared to Burgundy due to several shared structural characteristics. Both regions feature highly fragmented vineyards, numerous small family-owned producers, and a heavy reliance on single grape varieties that express subtle differences in terroir. Piedmont uses the MGA system to formally identify specific vineyard areas, meaning that sites like Cannubi or Brunate increasingly operate as individual brands.

Supply in Piedmont is tightly restricted. The entire Barolo appellation covers only about 2,000 hectares, while Barbaresco covers approximately 750 hectares. Famous estates like Giacomo Conterno or Giuseppe Rinaldi produce comparatively small quantities, creating a producer-level scarcity that historically drove prices in Burgundy. We refer to this phenomenon as the "Burgundification of Piedmont". Because liquidity can vary, precise stock selection is particularly important in this region.

What returns can you expect from Italian wine?

Understanding what returns can you expect from fine wine requires separating regional averages from specific asset performance. During the podcast, we highlighted that over a recent 10-year period examined in our analysis, the Liv-ex Italy 100 returned 59.8%, outperforming the broader Liv-ex 1000 index, which returned 37.4%.

However, Italian wines that specifically met WineFi's rigorous investment criteria produced a back-tested total return of 126.6% over the same period. This demonstrates the extent to which performance has historically depended on selecting the right producers, labels, and vintages rather than relying on broad regional exposure. For example, in our backtesting of Piedmontese wines, bottles scoring above 70 on the WineFi Investment Score (WIS) produced more than twice the 10-year total returns of wines scoring below 30.

When asking is fine wine a good investment in 2026, the data suggests that it can offer attractive risk-adjusted returns, but those returns are generated exclusively from price appreciation. A lower entry point does not eliminate risk, but acquiring assets at an efficient market price is critical to securing long-term capital appreciation.

How do you select investment-grade Italian wine?

Before allocating capital, it is crucial to understand what is investment-grade wine. We estimate that less than a single percentage of the world's wine is genuinely investment-grade. A wine can be very rare and very valuable, but still be impossible to sell.

In the episode, we detailed several factors that are essential when selecting Italian assets:

• Producer strength: A strong producer offers consistent quality, international distribution, and an established collector base.

• The label: A flagship wine may behave very differently in the secondary market compared to an entry-level bottling from the exact same estate.

• Vintage: A highly regarded vintage attracts demand but may be expensive from the outset, whereas an overlooked vintage purchased at the right price can sometimes provide a stronger investment case.

• Drinking window: A wine needs enough remaining life to accommodate both your expected holding period and the eventual resale process.

• Liquidity: Investors must look at actual transaction activity rather than assuming a famous name will automatically be easy to sell.

• Entry price: Even the world's greatest wine can be a terrible investment if purchased at an excessive valuation.

Why are proper storage and tax rules so important?

To support price appreciation, fine wine must be managed professionally. The importance of wine storage is paramount because provenance is essential for a wine to be considered investment-grade. The wine must be authentic, stored under appropriate temperature and humidity conditions, and kept in a government-approved bonded warehouse. If you remove a wine from bond and store it at home, a future buyer has no way to verify its storage history, which severely damages its resale value.

Furthermore, storing wine in bond has significant tax benefits. For domestic investors, our UK wine investment tax guide highlights that fine wine with a predictable drinking life of under 50 years is typically treated as a "wasting asset". As a result, the majority of investment-grade Italian wines are generally exempt from Capital Gains Tax upon disposal. Additionally, while wines remain in bonded storage, VAT and excise duty remain suspended.

How Italian wine connects to your portfolio

Learning how to start investing in fine wine in the UK involves thinking in portfolio terms rather than focusing on single bottles. When constructing an Italian allocation, Tuscany and Piedmont play highly complementary roles. Tuscany provides a foundation of stability, global brand recognition, and deep liquidity. Piedmont offers scarcity-driven opportunities, a fragmented producer landscape, and the potential for higher price appreciation.

To hear the full discussion on these market dynamics, listen to the episode on Spotify. If you are interested in participating in our structured syndicates, you can view active Italian collections on our investment opportunities page.