Sparkle 26: 92 wines awarded the "5 Spheres" since the twenty-fourth edition; November 29, 2025 in Rome

Sparkle 2026 , the 24th edition of the guide to the best Italian dry sparkling wines, published by the historic food and wine magazine Cucina & Vini , will be presented in Rome on Saturday, November 29, 2025. Starting at 1:30 pm, at The Westin Excelsior Hotel, 92 of the 976 wines included in the guide, produced by Italy's finest wineries, will be awarded the coveted 5 Spheres .

The most represented region is Lombardy , thanks to the 31 awards received, 29 belonging to the Franciacorta DOCG denomination and 2 to the Oltrepò Pavese area; Trentino has 21, with only Trento DOC. 21 awards also for Veneto, 18 Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG, two Lessini Durello DOC and one Asolo Prosecco Superiore DOCG, followed in the ranking by Piedmont (6 awards, all Alta Langa), Alto Adige (4), Abruzzo (3), Lazio and Puglia (2), Sicily and Umbria close with 5 spheres.

"In twenty-four years of work, this is the first time we've felt a bit of uncertainty in the market, despite quality reaching extremely high levels, along with production targets, exceeding 1.111 billion bottles produced in one year, between August 1, 2024, and July 31, 2025 (our elaboration of Icqrf data) ," says Francesco D'Agostino, editor of the Sparkle guide . "Tariffs will certainly lead to a slowdown in exports, a phenomenon never seen in the last fifteen years, but which, up until July 2025, has not yet become apparent, given that we exceeded 1.3 billion, while in July 2024 we were just shy of it (Istat data). We believe, however, that the domestic market will also respond to the commitment of winemakers to increase production, thanks mainly to the push of the new generations. Young people have always been reluctant to approach wine, as we all can testify, but sparkling wines are becoming increasingly popular." They are embracing conscious consumption earlier than previous generations. In this context, we believe a more accessible guide will be more accessible to a consumer world that is increasingly welcoming to young people, at least for the aperitivo phenomenon. Sparkle 2026 presents the 150 best sparkling wines in Italy in print, while the web will feature the stories of the approximately 1,000 wines selected by our tasting panel this year.

The event's program will be richer than ever: it begins at 11:30 a.m. with the presentation of FORVECARDO, the plant-based rennet developed by the University of Tuscia. This represents a true revolution in the world of cheese, benefiting reproducible quality and the increasingly established vegetarian market. Cheeses made with FORVECARDO will be tasted alongside others made with the same sheep's milk but with animal rennet.

At 1:30 PM, the 2026 edition of the Sparkle guide will be presented, followed by the awarding of the coveted 5 Spheres (the complete list is attached). At 4:00 PM, there will be a masterclass on Alta Langa DOCG sparkling wines, enriched by the presence of the president of the Alta Langa Consortium, Giovanni Minetti. At the same time, as usual, the grand tasting of Italian sparkling wines will begin, open to all. to the public. An exciting journey through over two hundred great Italian dry sparkling wines , each to be discovered and tasted through a journey structured according to their geographical origin.

This year, Sparkle can once again count on the support of major national and international brands who have chosen the event as an opportunity to communicate and promote their products and their excellence. On the technical side, a significant confirmation is the 13-year consecutive presence of Diam , a leading brand in the production of cork stoppers, which has been a sponsor since the event's inception. On the food side, one of the leading Italian cured meat brands, Salumi King's, founded in 1907, will be present, offering tastings of its finest products along with Vitavigor breadsticks, perfect for pairing with the sparkling wines. Another new feature this year is the presence of MemoryBox, a Tuscan startup founded by Florentine artisan Paolo Buffadini, which transforms bottle stoppers into keepsakes to be preserved and displayed as small, elegant, and customizable design objects.