OperaWine, Italy’s most impressive wine tasting, will be back in Verona in 2026. Wine Spectator senior editor and tasting director Alison Napjus appeared at Vinitaly USA’s wine2wine business forum this week to present the list of 150 wineries invited to participate in the latest OperaWine. OperaWine is an annual Italian wine tasting event sponsored by Wine Spectator in partnership with Veronafiere, the organizer and host of Italy’s Vinitaly wine fair in Verona. OperaWine 2026 will take place on Saturday, April 11, 2026.
“OperaWine is a signature event, the unofficial start to Vinitaly on the Saturday before the fair,” said Napjus. “It’s also a unique event. Wine Spectator hosts the New York Wine Experience and Grand Tour tastings here in the U.S. each year, but OperaWine is our only international tasting event.”
Napjus made her announcement at Vinitaly USA’s second edition, held in Chicago on Oct. 5–6. The two-day event included 250 exhibitors showing their wines to more than 2,200 buyers, and included, for the first time in the U.S., wine2wine, a business forum offering meetings, tastings and educational sessions for wineries and industry members.
As Federico Bricolo, president of Veronafiere, explained, “At a pivotal moment for the wine market in the United States, presenting Vinitaly OperaWine in Chicago means strengthening our business-oriented approach to become an increasingly effective tool for promoting Italian wine abroad and showcasing its extraordinary potential, expressed through a diversity of grape varieties that offer a wine selection unique in the world.”
A Bigger, Better OperaWine
OperaWine is now in its 14th edition—a reflection of its success over the years. What began in 2012 as “OperaWine: Finest Italian Wines, 100 Great Producers,” expanded to 130 wineries by 2025 and 150 wineries for 2026. The participating wineries for OperaWine are selected each year by the magazine’s editors, with the overall goal of showcasing the high quality, breadth and diversity of the Italian wine industry. A variety of factors are considered during the selection process, but, as Napjus explained, the 2026 expansion additionally incorporates new parameters for the tasting.
“We have a new format geared toward elevating the OperaWine tasting and integrating new faces each year. For the 2026 edition, we’ve selected the 150 wineries with three categories in mind: ‘Legacy Icon,’ ‘Classic’ and ‘New Voices.’”
The ‘Legacy Icon’ group encompasses 31 benchmark Italian wineries that have participated in every edition of OperaWine. ‘Classic’ includes 69 wineries that are leaders from their regions. And only those wineries that have come to the fore since 1990 were included in the group of 50 ‘New Voices.’ This final group is a designated theme for 2026 only, with a plan to select a new theme for each subsequent OperaWine.
The full list of producers, organized by group and within their respective regions, is presented below:
Legacy Icon
Masciarelli, Abruzzo
Feudi di San Gregorio, Campania
Mastroberardino, Campania
Livio Felluga, Friuli/Venezia-Giulia
Famiglia Cotarella, Lazio
Ca’ del Bosco, Lombardy
Nino Negri, Lombardy
Umani Ronchi, Marche
Aldo Conterno, Piedmont
Giuseppe Mascarello & Figlio, Piedmont
Paolo Scavino, Piedmont
Tormaresca, Puglia
Donnafugata, Sicily
Planeta, Sicily
Tasca d’Almerita, Sicily
Ferrari, Trentino/Alto Adige
Castello di Ama, Tuscany
Antinori, Tuscany
Castellare di Castellina, Tuscany
Fattoria di Fèlsina, Tuscany
Fontodi, Tuscany
Marchesi de’ Frescobaldi, Tuscany
Mazzei, Tuscany
Ornellaia, Tuscany
Tenuta San Guido, Tuscany
Castello di Volpaia, Tuscany
Lungarotti, Umbria
Allegrini, Veneto
Masi, Veneto
Leonildo Pieropan, Veneto
Zenato, Veneto
Classic
d’Angelo, Basilicata
Borgo del Tiglio, Friuli/Venezia-Giulia
Marco Felluga, Friuli/Venezia-Giulia
Jermann, Friuli/Venezia-Giulia
Vie di Romans, Friuli/Venezia-Giulia
Cantine Lunae Bosoni, Liguria
ArPePe, Lombardy
Bellavista, Lombardy
Guido Berlucchi, Lombardy
Bisci, Marche
Garofoli, Marche
Elio Altare, Piedmont
Braida di Giacomo Bologna, Piedmont
Giacomo Borgogno & Figli, Piedmont
G.B. Burlotto, Piedmont
Cavallotto, Piedmont
Ceretto, Piedmont
Pio Cesare, Piedmont
Elvio Cogno, Piedmont
Marchesi di Gresy, Piedmont
Massolino, Piedmont
Oddero, Piedmont
Pira Chiara Boschis, Piedmont
Produttori del Barbaresco, Piedmont
Ratti, Piedmont
Roagna, Piedmont
Luciano Sandrone, Piedmont
G.D. Vajra, Piedmont
Vietti, Piedmont
Nino Franco, Prosecco / Northeast
Argiolas, Sardinia
Tenute Sella & Mosca, Sardinia
Benanti, Sicily
Duca di Salaparuta, Sicily
Tenuta delle Terre Nere, Sicily
Vini Franchetti-Passopisciaro, Sicily
J. Hofstätter, Trentino/Alto Adige
Tenuta San Leonardo, Trentino/Alto Adige
St.-Michael-Eppan, Trentino/Alto Adige
Cantina Terlano, Trentino/Alto Adige
Elena Walch, Trentino/Alto Adige
Castello di Albola, Tuscany
Altesino, Tuscany
Argiano, Tuscany
Castello Banfi, Tuscany
Barone Ricasoli, Tuscany
Biondi-Santi, Tuscany
Boscarelli, Tuscany
Canalicchio di Sopra, Tuscany
Caprili, Tuscany
Carpineto, Tuscany
Casanova di Neri, Tuscany
Eredi Fuligni, Tuscany
Isole & Olena, Tuscany
Le Macchiole, Tuscany
Castello di Monsanto, Tuscany
Siro Pacenti, Tuscany
Il Poggione, Tuscany
Fattoria Le Pupille, Tuscany
Rocca delle Macìe, Tuscany
Castello Romitorio, Tuscany
Valdicava, Tuscany
Antinori Castello della Sala, Umbria
Arnaldo Caprai, Umbria
Tabarrini, Umbria
Roberto Anselmi, Veneto
Bertani, Veneto
Romano Dal Forno, Veneto
Tedeschi, Veneto
New Voices
La Valentina, Abruzzo
Elena Fucci, Basilicata
Colli di Lapio, Campania
Fattoria Galardi, Campania
Quintodecimo, Campania
San Salvatore, Campania
Terre di Valter, Campania
Chiara Condello, Emilia-Romagna
Bastianich, Friuli/Venezia-Giulia
Terenzuola, Liguria
Terre Bianche, Liguria
Bucci, Marche
Catabbo, Molise
Ca’Viola, Piedmont
Trediberri, Piedmont
Mauro Veglio, Piedmont
BiancaVigna, Prosecco / Northeast
Felline, Puglia
Gianfranco Fino, Puglia
Masseria Li Veli, Puglia
Agricola Punica, Sardinia
Feudo Maccari, Sicily
Feudo Montoni, Sicily
Graci, Sicily
Arianna Occhipinti, Sicily
Pietradolce, Sicily
Giovanni Rosso, Sicily
Tommasi Ammura, Sicily
F. Tornatore, Sicily
Maso Martis, Trentino/Alto Adige
Tenuta di Arceno, Tuscany
Argentiera, Tuscany
Tenuta di Biserno, Tuscany
Le Chiuse, Tuscany
Grattamacco, Tuscany
Ipsus, Tuscany
Istine, Tuscany
Lamole di Lamole, Tuscany
Il Molino di Grace, Tuscany
Riecine, Tuscany
Rocca di Frassinello, Tuscany
Rocca di Montegrossi, Tuscany
Podere Salicutti, Tuscany
San Filippo, Tuscany
Poggio al Tesoro, Tuscany
Tolaini, Tuscany
Tenuta di Trinoro, Tuscany
Tenuta Castelbuono, Umbria
Cesari, Veneto
Zymè, Veneto
