The Canadian Market Becomes Increasingly Strategic for Italian Wine

Vinitaly Comes to Toronto for the first time to Train Future Italian Wine Ambassadors

By John Szabo, MS

This feature was commissioned by ITA (Italian Trade Agency Canada) and Veronafiere

Let me paint you a picture. It’s early April in Verona, and somewhere between the Roman amphitheatre and the medieval towers, the greatest party in the wine world is getting started. The Piazza Brà — one of the most achingly beautiful public squares in Europe, where the 2,000-year-old Arena di Verona rises from the cobblestones like a CGI-generated scene from Spartacus — is buzzing with a kind of energy that only wine can generate.

©Veronafiere-Ennevifoto

Elegantly dressed Italians gesticulate with their hands while holding glasses of Amarone. Canadian importers in sensible shoes are studying a long list of exhibitors. A table of sommeliers from Montreal is sharing a heaping platter of bollito misto at a trattoria on the Via Roma — thick, slow-cooked beef and cotechino arriving fragrant and steaming, with a tower of mostarda and pearà sauce on the side — while the waiter insists, correctly, that a bowl of risotto all’Amarone is also non-negotiable. I overhear someone from another group suggest, with dangerous optimism, “let’s stop in for one quick spritz before dinner”. Nobody is in any hurry.

And then, around midnight, the party migrates to the narrow cobbled Vicolo Scudo di Francia outside the Antica Bottega del Vino. Verona’s most storied enoteca, its cellar crammed with tens of thousands of bottles stretching back a century, becomes the unofficial headquarters of the wine world’s greatest afterparty. Italian producers, international buyers, journalists, sommeliers and the occasional bemused local all find themselves shoulder-to-shoulder, glass in hand, conducting the serious business of wine in equal parts networking event and Bacchanalian street opera.

This is how Vinitaly begins: not inside the sprawling exhibition halls, but in the city itself, which throws open its arms and conspires beautifully in the seduction.

Listen to the latest D’Amato & Szabo Wine Thieves podcast featuring an interview with Stevie Kim, Managing Partner of VinItaly and the force behind the Vinitaly International Academy, the gold standard in Italian Wine certification.

The World’s Most Important Italian Wine Event — and the Parking Puzzlend of Diversity

The official event is something else altogether. Vinitaly fills 100,000 square metres across 18 halls at the Verona Expo Centre and navigating it — once you’ve solved the eternal puzzle of finding parking — is roughly equivalent to plotting a wine route through all 20 Italian regions simultaneously, which is essentially what it is. Over 4,000 exhibiting companies pour wines from every corner of the Boot, from the alpine air of Alto Adige to the volcanic fire of Etna. Four days, 540 native grape varieties (and counting), and enough tasting notes to fill a library.

“There is no other event in the world,” Federico Bricolo, president of Veronafiere/Vinitaly, tells me, “where you can taste wines from all 20 Italian regions, from all 540 grape varieties, under one roof, over four days.” He is not wrong. It is also, I would add, the only event where finding your rental car afterward may require a reflective walk and a working knowledge of Italian municipal signage (pro tip: use the Free Park & Ride Lots outside of the immediate fairgrounds).

The fair’s origins are humbler than its current scale suggests. The first Giornate del Vino Italiano — Italian Wine Days — were held over two days in September 1967, inside the stately Palazzo della Gran Guardia in central Verona. A journalist named Angelo Betti had the vision: Italy had just introduced its first denominazioni di origine controllata, or DOCs, and the wines needed a stage. By 1969, 130 wineries had joined; by 1971, it was a full-scale trade fair with wine auctions presided over by the writer Mario Soldati; by 1978, it earned international status and opened its doors to foreign exhibitors. The 58th edition this past April 12-15 drew 90,000 visitors from 135 countries, of whom more than 26,000 were international trade professionals. Canada and the USA consistently lead the non-EU delegations. Not bad for a two-day tasting in a palazzo.

Why Canada Sends Its Best to Verona

Every year, dozens of Canadian wine importers make the pilgrimage to Verona. The savviest of them bring their best restaurant clients along for the ride — sommeliers, wine directors, hospitality buyers — and this is not altruism. It is strategy of the highest order. A sommelier who has stood in the Barolo hall tasting ten vintages of a single producer, who has eaten sfilacci di cavallo in a Veronese trattoria and then made it to the Antica Bottega at midnight for a glass of Valpolicella, returns home fundamentally altered. Bellone, Brachetto, Biancolella. Pigato, Pallagrello, Pugnitello. Verduzzo, Vitovska, Vespaiola. Everyone returns home with a new obsession. They no longer simply sell Italian wine. They tell Italian stories. And a story, as any great restaurateur knows, is worth a great deal more than even a WineAlign tasting note.

When that sommelier stands tableside and explains that the Amarone in your glass took three years to make from grapes that were dried on bamboo racks in ancient stone lofts — and they can say so with the conviction of someone who has actually seen it — the dining experience is transformed. Guests lean in. The bottle is remembered. Another is ordered. This is the invisible return on investment that Vinitaly delivers to the Canadian market, rippling outward from Verona to restaurants across the country. “Vinitaly is, quite simply, the trade fair brand behind the international promotion of Italian wine,” says Bricolo.

And by the way, I’ll add that non-trade can get in on the party. For consumers, the parallel “Vinitaly and the City” event — separated from the professional fair in 2022 — turns Verona’s UNESCO-listed historic centre into an open-air tasting hall, posting more than 50,000 tastings against the backdrop of the Roman amphitheatre and Renaissance squares. Vinitaly 2027 runs April 11 to 14.

The infrastructure behind a good part of the Canada-Vinitaly connection is the Italian Trade Agency (ITA), known in Italy as ICE. Operating from three Canadian offices — Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver — and 79 offices worldwide, ITA underwrites the travel and accommodation costs not only for many Canadian importers but also for category buyers at the provincial monopolies. This is not a modest gesture. “The wine and spirits sector represents more than 62 per cent of our total promotional investment in Canada,” said Matteo Zoppas, president of ITA, in a recent interview. Italy has allocated €205 million in 2026 for promoting its agri-food products internationally, with wine as a central beneficiary. Again, it’s a savvy investment.

©Veronafiere-Ennevifoto

The Numbers Behind the Love Affair

At the LCBO the past decade has been one of structural transformation for Italian wine, with growth showing up across both mass-market and premium shelves.

On the General List, sparkling is the standout with a staggering 157 per cent gain and volume more than doubling. Sparkling now commands a 25 per cent share of Italian wine value on the GL up from 14 per cent a decade ago. Prosecco, with its approachable price point and magnetic affinity for any occasion involving sunlight and good company, has redefined the aperitivo ritual for an entire generation of Canadian drinkers.

The Vintages channel tells a structurally healthy story of its own. Italian red across Vintages and the Classics program grew from $67.6 million to $109.5 million — a 62 per cent gain — with an average selling price advancing from roughly $21 to $26 per 750ml bottle. Vintages buyers are increasingly trading up. Not surprising, then, that Italy leads all European wine suppliers at the LCBO (and the SAQ) by volume and value — a position, as Zoppas noted, that “is not an accident. It is the result of sustained, targeted promotion.”

This is particularly impressive considering the softening global wine market; Canada specifically has seen a 4-to-6-per-cent annual decline in per-capita wine consumption.

A Gold Standard Arrives in Toronto

Which brings us, at last, to a piece of news that should matter to every serious wine lover in Canada. This June, for the first time in its history, the Vinitaly International Academy (VIA) is bringing its flagship Italian Wine Ambassador certification course to Canadian soil. The two-day immersive program runs June 22–23 in downtown Toronto — and once again, ITA is underwriting the cost of participation for all attendees. If there is a more persuasive demonstration of Italy’s commitment to this market, I have yet to encounter it.

The 35 Italian Wine Ambassadors of VIA Toronto 2026 with Carlo Angelo Bocchi, Federico Bricolo, Stevie Kim, Sarah Heller MW and John Szabo MS. ©PR Newswire

The VIA credential is not for the faint-hearted. The program was founded to address a clear gap: with 540 native grape varieties, 20 distinct regions, and centuries of layered winemaking tradition, Italy is the world’s most complex wine country — and until VIA, there was no rigorous, scientifically grounded global credential to match that complexity. The curriculum, led by Faculty member Sarah Heller MW and overseen scientifically by Professor Attilio Scienza of the University of Milan, covers all 20 Italian regions in depth: geology, terroir, native grapes, denominations, and winemaking philosophy. The examination involves a blind tasting, 100 multiple-choice questions, and open-ended written responses. The global pass rate is approximately 29 per cent. Worldwide, 494 professionals have earned the Italian Wine Ambassador title to date, just a handful more than the 291 that currently hold the master sommelier title globally.

See press release: Italian Wine Ambassadors in Canada Double Overnight as Vinitaly International Academy (VIA) Debuts in Toronto

“The credential signals genuine expertise in the world’s most complex and diverse wine nation,” Bricolo told me.

For Canadian wine lovers, the effect of this will be felt not in examination halls but in dining rooms. A sommelier or LCBO buyer who passes the VIA exam doesn’t merely know that Sagrantino comes from Montefalco in Umbria — they can explain why it matters, who is doing the most interesting work in the region, and which vintage to trust. That knowledge travels directly from the trade to the table, enriching every glass poured and every conversation had over it. “The VIA course opens doors in the wine community to Italian wine that would otherwise remain closed.” Zoppas added. The availability and diversity of Italian wines on Canadian shelves and wine lists will surely deepen as a result.

The Glass Remains Deliciously Full

The outlook for Italian wine in Canada is, by any honest measure, bright. ITA is expanding its investment: multi-channel campaigns with both the LCBO and SAQ, the annual A Tasting of Wines from Italy roadshow bringing 100 producers from 15 regions to Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal, and growing Canadian buyer delegations to Verona each April. The tariff turbulence in the American market has sharpened Italy’s interest in geographic diversification, and Canada sits near the top of that strategic list. And with the VIA Ambassador program arriving in Toronto this June, the trade is about to become considerably better equipped to tell the stories.

For those of us at WineAlign, who curate the Exchange subscription cases for Canada’s most dedicated wine lovers, the Italian category is already the backbone of our selections — and growing stronger. ITA’s sustained investment in this market means we have better access to the regional specialties, the undersung grapes, the small producers, the full glorious, eccentric, endlessly fascinating breadth of Italian wine is increasingly available to Canadian subscribers willing to explore.

There are 540 native grape varieties in Italy. There is precisely one navigable parking space near the Vinitaly exhibition centre during fair week. Both statistics, in their own way, tell you everything you need to know: Italy is the most complicated, most rewarding, and most inexhaustible wine country on earth, and the people who bring its wines to Canada are working harder than ever to make sure you taste as much of it as possible.

Il resto è silenzio — the rest is silence. Drink up.

John Szabo, MS

For more info regarding Vinitaly USA and Vinitaly 2027 contact [email protected]