In 2022, Italian wine producers can count on 6.964 hectares of land available throughout Italy to grow their vineyards, as the Ministry of Agriculture Decree dated December 21, 2021 (but published in the Official Journal only on May 26, 2022, ed.), required. In other words, 1% of the vineyards registered on July 31, 2015, as the European legislation on authorizations required.
Italy has utilized this system in the best possible way compared to other European competitors. As a matter of fact, the European Union Commission Directorate General for Agriculture report shows that between 2015 and 2020, the Italian vineyard has grown + 5.25%, for a total of 671.139 hectares. On the other hand, Spain, which has the largest vineyard area in Europe, at 944.478 hectares, has lost -1.48% in 5 years, and France, second in area size, at 813.505 hectares, has grown only 0.96%. Looking at the main wine producers, the European vineyard has essentially stopped growing (+ 0.4%). Italy also ranks top of the list in converted replanting rights. Its rate is 80% of the total, adding on to those for the years from 2016 to 2021. The average of the 13 EU countries that have the largest vineyard area is 69%, while Spain is at 76% and France at 64% (only Slovakia and Slovenia have done better, at 98% and 92%; however, their absolute values are much smaller). These numbers actually confirm the overall growth of Italian wine, which over the past few years has seen an increase in markets, exports and turnover, accompanied by growth in the vineyard, which is, obviously, the genesis of wine.