In the stands of this edition of Vinitalya new awareness is emerging: controlling your sales and your customers is now essential for operating in the market. Self-representation and authentic storytelling, on the other hand, guarantee a strong and unforgettable identity for everyone who has had the chance to experience it. Today, identity and control are the keys to transforming the winery into a strong, healthy, and, above all, profitable global economic player. 2026 is the year of “direct”.
Why the focus at Vinitaly has shifted to direct sales
The real shift in 2026 concerns the centrality of the customer. Reaching the final consumer directly, whether a private individual or a business operator, is now a strategic choice that allows for the consolidation of one’s business. The advantages are concrete and measurable:
- Margin optimization and price management: Shortening the supply chain allows for autonomous management of price positioning and the labels offered on the market, thus preserving the value generated in the vineyard.
- Market knowledge through data: Understanding who is buying, which wines they prefer, and in which geographical areas, enables the winery to better plan its commercial strategies. Having a clear vision of “what to sell and where” allows for the building of long-lasting relationships of trust and encourages repeat purchases over time.
- Brand Identity Consistency: Without intermediate steps, the winery communicates its story in an authentic and direct way. This reclaims full control over the message and international positioning, ensuring that brand perception is always aligned with the corporate vision.
Wine tourism as a generator of global relationships
In this scenario, wine tourism evolves, establishing itself as the preferred way to create a direct and lasting relationship with the market.
The customer, especially the international one, looks for a face, an identity, and an authentic experience, but the emotion of the meeting at the booth or in the winery risks remaining an isolated moment if it is not transformed into constant value for the company.
The real economic return, in fact, does not lie exclusively in the single sale during the tasting or the exhibition days, but above all in the ability to make that experience seamless and accessible even from a distance. When an enthusiast or an operator in New York or London has the possibility to reorder the winery’s wines with the simplicity of a click, an occasional toast is transformed into true value.
In this way, brand loyalty inevitably depends on the simplicity and efficiency of the purchasing processes.
Omnichannel: managing complexity with simplicity
To govern the market today, lean and integrated operations are needed. Omnichannel is the tool that allows the producer to manage diverse flows with simplicity (B2B and B2C, online and offline) by eliminating fragmentation between sales channels. Brand identity risks weakening if the purchasing experience is hindered by analog processes or bureaucracy. The goal must be only one: to make the management of the customer, whether a professional partner or the final consumer, as simple as possible.
It is a central theme that we also discussed with the partners of the Wine Tourism Hub, in the context of Vinitaly Tourism. In these moments of discussion, it emerges clearly that the difference is made by those who eliminate friction: today, technology must serve to protect business margins, making the transition from producer to customer an immediate and seamless process.
Denis Andolfo, CEO and co-founder of Direct From Italy, speaks about omnichannel direct sales at Vinitaly Tourism 2026.
Reclaiming control of the market
The future belongs to the wineries that can combine their product’s identity with the streamlining of digital services.
2026 is part of a process that marks the moment when producers stop delegating the key steps of their success and begin to actively govern them. Reclaiming full control over sales, brand positioning, and the direct bond with the customer is no longer just a possibility, but the new reality of a modern, independent, and profitable wine market.
