Italian wine exports have grown by 74% in the past ten years, driven largely by Prosecco, which has pushed exports of sparkling wine by 400% in the same period. The figures were revealed by the head of Nomisma’s Wine Monitor, Denis Pantini, during the Wine2Wine event in Verona, reports Radiocor.

Italy exports 60% of its wine to three markets, USA, Germany and the UK, but it is lagging behind in new consumer markets like China. This is due to structural problems such as the small size of cellars: just 25% of all producers are capable of producing more than 15,000 bottles, which is the minimum size to fill a container to be shipped abroad.