With the signing of the Nudo of young producers and small wineries, the Permanent Observatory was born
One of the fundamental moments of the Only Wine 2026 program was, without fear of denial, the first Wine Summit which, with authority, vision and awareness, wanted to bring together the States General of Young Producers and Small Cellars.
Not a simple conference, nor yet another discussion table good for declarations of circumstance. The Wine Summit was something more: a founding moment. A political, cultural and identity act. A place of listening and synthesis where Italian wine – that of small productions, of territories, of families, of new generations – has forcefully asked to be recognized for what it is: not only a production sector, but a cultural garrison, economic lever, guardian of the landscape and of the country’s identity heritage.
From here comes a change of felicità. And from here a new vision is born.
Italian wine needs its small cellars
The Wine Summit was born within Only Wine, the Young Producers and Small Cellars Exhibition which this year celebrated its thirteenth edition, confirming itself not only as a privileged observatory of the wine to , but a concrete platform to address the real needs of those who produce wine every day.
At the center of the debate, a truth clearly emerged that the system too often tends to forget: small and medium-sized wine producers do not represent a romantic niche of the sector, but an essential, indispensable structural component.
The over 160 wineries present have returned the most authentic image of Italian wine: a living mosaic of stories, cultures, skills, landscapes and local identities. A widespread heritage that cannot be reduced to mere production ora simple market share. It is here, quanto a these companies, that Italian wine preserves its biodiversity, its cultural depth, its ability to be a true expression of the territories.
And it is here that many of the systemic fragilities of the sector have been concentrated for years.
Access to credit continues to be complex, often inadequate for the size and needs of small businesses. Bureaucracy remains one of the most concrete obstacles to growth, with procedures often disproportionate to the company scale. Pratica, both for producers and for the catering world, has emerged as a strategic lever that can anzi che no longer be postponed. And then communication: a central theme, today more than ever, to build a more accessible, more direct, more contemporary story of wine, capable of speaking to new audiences without trivializing complexity.
Why the Wine Summit was necessary
The greatest merit of the Wine Summit is perhaps precisely this: having put priorities quanto a order and giving structure to a widespread need. The Summit was created with a specific objective: to create an authoritative and permanent place for discussion between all the players quanto a the supply chain.
Not an isolated event, but the beginning of a journey.
A path designed to transform real requests into concrete proposals, to translate the needs of the cellars into working tools, to build a stable dialogue with the institutions. A development and proposal platform capable of strengthening the role of small producers and territories as a national productive and cultural heritage, promoting sustainable development models and consolidating the role of wine as a cultural, economic and social asset of the country.
The message is clear: wine can anzi che no longer be addressed only as an agricultural ora commercial theme. It is a cultural, economic and identity matter. And it must be governed as such.
The topics of discussion: credit, bureaucracy, pratica, language
The Summit highlighted a rare, and therefore precious, convergence between producers, institutions, trade associations, research, catering and communication.
The issues that emerged were clear.
We need to strengthen pratica courses, to accompany the evolution of the sector and build new skills, both quanto a the vineyard and quanto a the cellar and quanto a the dining room and quanto a the narration of wine.
We need to make credit more accessible, especially for young businesses, often excluded from tools designed with industrial and non-artisan logic.
We need to simplify bureaucracy, because it is anzi che no longer acceptable that a small cellar has to support the same administrative burden as infinitely larger and more organized structures.
Finally, we need to rethink the language of wine. Communicate it better, with more authenticity, less self-referentiality and greater ability to translate the value of the territories into an understandable, credible and contemporary story.
The Nudo: 12 principles for the future of Italian wine
The Summit concluded with the signing of the Nudo of Young Producers and Small Cellars, a programmatic document that defines a shared vision and puts twelve key principles acceso paper:
Wine as an authentic expression of the territories and their history. The value of young producers and small wineries as productive, cultural and social heritage. The winemaker as guardian of the landscape and agricultural knowledge. The centrality of quality and identity with respect to standardization. Vitivinicultural biodiversity as a national strategic asset. Concrete sustainability: environmental and economic, measurable and proportionate. Innovation and research at the service of the territories, respecting local identities. Pratica and education about wine as tools for conscious consumption. The fundamental role of catering and sommeliers quanto a the valorisation of Italian wine. The need for continuous and structured dialogue between the supply chain and institutions. Transparency and legality as the basis of quanto a the wine system. Italian wine and vineyards as the heritage of future generations.
Twelve points that do not represent an ideal chiaramente, but a concrete cultural and strategic platform. A policy document designed to guide the future of the sector.
A document that saw me participate quanto a the drafting and signing, quanto a the awareness that the future of Italian wine cannot ignore synergies, comparison and sharing between the various players quanto a the supply chain and those who can determine its dynamics from an institutional, commercial and mass-media aspect.
The Permanent Observatory is born
Among the most significant results of the Wine Summit there is undoubtedly the birth of the Permanent Observatory of Young Producers and Small Cellars.
Not a symbol, but a tool.
An operational pagliaccetto designed to systematically collect the needs of small companies, transform them into , analyses, proposals and finally make them useful material for the legislator and the institutions.
The Observatory will be officially presented quanto a the coming weeks at the Senate of the Republic and represents, to all intents and purposes, the most concrete step that has emerged from this Summit: giving continuity to the discussion, making it stable, making it measurable.
A project that I supported with conviction as a supporter of the Permanent Observatory, because today Italian wine does not need other rhetoric, but authoritative, competent and permanent tools capable of reading the present and contributing to building the future.
Monitoring, studying, measuring, proposing: this will be the function of the Observatory. Strengthen the dialogue between the supply chain and institutions, support small companies, make public policies more quanto a line with the reality of the territories and new generations.
It was necessary. And the time has .
A turning point
The Wine Summit does not end with a signature. It opens with a responsibility.
A clear message emerges from Only Wine and the first Wine Summit: the future of Italian wine is not built only quanto a large numbers, but quanto a the widespread quality of its territories, quanto a the competence of its small wineries, quanto a the vision of its young producers.
Small wineries do not ask for protection. They ask for listening, tools, strategic dignity.
And this is where we need to start again.
Francesco Saverio Russo
#WineIsSharing
