Italians have welcomed travelers to the table for millennia. But the modern idea of touring a country by its vineyards — open cellars, wine roads, farm stays — is surprisingly recent, and Italy built it almost from scratch.
To travel through Italy for its wine feels timeless, as though people have always done it. In truth, the machinery that makes it possible — the open wineries, the signposted wine routes, the farm stays among the vines — is a modern invention, largely built in the last forty years. The story of Italian wine tourism is the story of a country deciding, quite deliberately, to open its cellars to the world.[1]
From closed cellars to open doors
For most of history, an Italian winery was a working farm, not a destination. The first crucial change came in 1985, when a national framework law formally established agriturismo — allowing farms, including wine estates, to host and feed travelers.[1] Suddenly a vineyard could legally become a place to stay, eat, and taste. The farm stay, now central to the Italian wine experience, was born.
The movement that threw open the cellars
The real turning point came in 1993, with the founding of the Movimento Turismo del Vino (the Wine Tourism Movement), an association of producers dedicated to welcoming visitors. That same year it launched Cantine Aperte — “Open Cellars” — a national open-winery day, held on the last Sunday of May, when estates across Italy fling their doors open to the public.[2] It was a revolution in attitude: wineries that had once guarded their gates now competed to welcome guests, and Cantine Aperte remains one of the most popular wine events in the country.
A country that once kept its cellars closed decided, in a single generation, to open them all.
Wine roads and the law of the land
Government followed the momentum. In 1999 a national law created the Strade del Vino — official “wine roads” that link wineries, cellars, and food producers along signposted routes, turning whole regions into structured itineraries.[1] The idea proved so successful that Italy eventually gave wine tourism its own legal identity: a set of national rules regulating enoturismo as a formal economic activity for wineries took effect in 2019.[1]
| 1985 | Agriturismo law — farms and wineries may host travelers[1] |
|---|---|
| 1993 | Movimento Turismo del Vino founded; first Cantine Aperte[2] |
| 1999 | Strade del Vino — the national wine-roads law[1] |
| 2019 | Enoturismo regulated as a formal activity[1] |
| Today | One of the world’s leading wine-tourism destinations[1] |
Following the road yourself
That whole apparatus exists so that a traveler can do the simplest, oldest thing: visit the place, meet the maker, taste the wine. For where to point yourself, see our guide to Italy’s wine regions and the heart of it all in Tuscany. When you are ready to go, our Italy wine tour is built on exactly these roads.
Related reading: Italy’s wine regions · the history of Tuscan wine · why wine and place are inseparable · the Wine History Timeline
Frequently asked questions
When did wine tourism start in Italy?
In its modern form, largely from the 1980s and 1990s: the 1985 agriturismo law enabled farm stays, and the 1993 founding of the Movimento Turismo del Vino, with its Cantine Aperte open-cellar day, opened wineries to the public.
What are the Strade del Vino?
The “wine roads” — official signposted routes, established by a 1999 national law, that link wineries, cellars, and food producers so travelers can tour a wine region along a structured itinerary.
Sources
- “Wine tourism in Italy / enoturismo” (the 1985 agriturismo framework law; the 1999 Strade del Vino law establishing wine roads; the 2019 national regulation of enoturismo as a formal activity), Wikipedia: Agriturismo / Enotourism. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agritourism
- “Movimento Turismo del Vino & Cantine Aperte” (national wine-tourism association founded 1993; Cantine Aperte open-cellar day launched 1993, held the last Sunday of May), Movimento Turismo del Vino. movimentoturismovino.it
Want to read more?
Books we drew on and recommend for going deeper on wine history.
The World Atlas of WineHugh Johnson & Jancis Robinson
9000 Years of Wine: A World HistoryRod Phillips
Cork DorkBianca BoskerAs an Amazon Associate, Wine History Tours earns from qualifying purchases. This supports our research at no extra cost to you.
