Sparkle 2026: Over 1,500 visitors discover the finest examples of Italian sparkling wine.

The curtain falls on Sparkle 2026 : the twenty-fourth edition of the Guide to the Best Italian Dry Sparkling Wines published by Cucina & Vini has once again captivated the Roman public. The elegant spaces of The Westin Excelsior Hotel in Rome welcomed approximately 1,500 visitors, who were thrilled to discover the 92 labels awarded 5 Spheres, out of the 976 wines included in the guide. From Lombardy with 31 medal-winning wines, to Trentino and Veneto with 21, passing through Piedmont, Abruzzo, and the South, the event offered a veritable tour of Italy's sparkling wine scene. A steady flow of visitors, accompanied by a large presence of press and industry professionals, confirms Sparkle as one of the capital's leading wine events, capable of showcasing excellence and highlighting the ongoing evolution of this increasingly healthy sector.

Alongside this success, the 2026 edition launches a major innovation: the guide is now available online with Sparkle.wine, the portal that brings together and makes accessible a selection of the best labels, the top 150 of the more than 1,000 wines included in the guide. This important showcase is designed to guide enthusiasts and professionals in discovering the most interesting sparkling wines, through an intuitive and constantly updated search engine. From now on, all bubbly lovers from around the world have a new tool at their disposal to navigate the regions, producers, and major appellations that represent the best of Italy's production.

" For many years, we've been changing the name of our guide from Bere Spumante to Sparkle," explains Francesco D'Agostino, editor of the Sparkle guide . " A new way to encompass the wonderful world of Italian sparkling wines, which lack a common term. An English word because the goal was and is to reach global consumers who are confused by equating our quintessential sweet sparkling wine, Asti, with spumante, while Prosecco, a proper name that indicates a region and a wine, is also associated with all other Italian sparkling wines. Since November 29th, sparkle.wine has been the English-language destination where you can discover just how beautiful and delicious Italian Sparkling wines are, starting, of course, with all the major appellations that make up over 90% of them."

The turnout at the tasting tables was matched by considerable interest in the masterclasses, starting with the one at the opening of the day dedicated to FORVECARDO cheeses, the plant-based rennet developed by the University of Tuscia, which offered the opportunity to learn more about the potential and extraordinary organoleptic characteristics of this ethical and sustainable production. The tasting of Alta Langa DOC wines, led by Francesco D'Agostino and Giovanni Minetti, President and founding member of the Alta Langa Consortium, was sold out. It offered a captivating account of what continues to prove itself one of the pinnacles of Italian sparkling wine production.