In a market where standardised products are increasingly struggling to stand out, the concept of bespoke wine has emerged as one of the most interesting developments in the contemporary wine supply chain.
Rather than offering a ready-made catalogue, this approach builds the product around the buyer: it tailors aromas, structure and style to precise commercial objectives.
For distributors, retailers and the Ho.Re.Ca. sector, bespoke wine is no longer a niche curiosity but a strategic lever for differentiation.
In this article we will clarify what bespoke wine is, why it is gaining ground as a genuine winemaking trend, how a custom wine is actually obtained and which national and European regulations frame these oenological practices.
What is bespoke wine?
Bespoke wine is a personalised approach to winemaking, whose goal is to deliver a product that matches the exact preferences and requirements of a specific client.
The English term “bespoke”, borrowed from tailoring, captures the idea precisely: just as a tailored suit is built to the customer’s measurements, a bespoke wine is shaped around the buyer’s defined sensory and technical specifications.
Crucially, bespoke wine is not about inventing or artificially manufacturing a beverage. It is about combining wines that already exist, sourced from trusted suppliers, in order to reach a clearly defined target.
The customisation therefore concerns three main decisions:
- the selection of the specific wines to be combined;
- the definition of the blending ratios between them;
- the identification of the sensory attributes of the final product, such as its aroma, flavour profile and finish.
This service rests on collaboration across the entire wine supply chain: the wine producers who supply the base wines, the qualified technicians who manage the blending and customisation, and the final client who defines the brief and validates the result.
The base can vary depending on the project, ranging from generic wines to varietal wines and classified wines such as IGP and DOP/DOC denominations.
The result is a product designed to fit a particular brand identity, price positioning or consumer segment, rather than a one-size-fits-all bottling that the buyer must adapt to after the fact.
Why is it a new winemaking trend?
The growing interest in bespoke wine reflects a wider shift in how businesses compete.
In saturated and highly competitive markets, the ability to offer a tailored product has become a decisive advantage: it allows a company to occupy a distinctive position instead of competing on price alone with interchangeable products.
Several factors explain why this approach is establishing itself as a trend rather than a passing fashion.
First, market and consumer expectations have become more specific.
Buyers increasingly look for wines with well-defined characteristics that respond to identifiable tastes, occasions and price points. A standardised product rarely satisfies all of these simultaneously, whereas a custom blend can be calibrated to a precise commercial brief.
Second, bespoke wine supports brand differentiation.
For a distributor or retailer building a private label, a custom wine becomes the foundation of a recognisable identity, often reinforced by personalised packaging and labelling. The product is no longer simply “a red” or “a white” on a shelf, but an expression of the brand itself.
Third, the approach is flexible and scalable.
A client can start from a very detailed brief, supplying reference samples and target parameters, or from broader requirements that are then refined through professional guidance.
In both cases the process is designed to converge on a commercially viable result, which makes it accessible to a wide range of business models.
In short, bespoke wine answers a structural need of the modern market: standing out. That is why it is increasingly regarded as a durable winemaking trend rather than a temporary one.
How to obtain custom wine?
Obtaining a custom wine is a structured process that combines technical control with considerable versatility. While the exact sequence may vary, a well-managed bespoke project generally moves through four phases.
Analysis of customer preferences
The journey begins by understanding the client’s needs in detail. Clients are encouraged to share reference samples or target wines that can guide the work, since these provide concrete insight into the desired organoleptic characteristics and analytical parameters.
The more precise the brief, in terms of varietals, aromas or structure, the more focused the final proposal will be. Where such detail is not available, the process remains effective: professional expertise is used to curate a selection of wines whose blend reflects the client’s broader intentions, so that even open-ended requests can be turned into tailored options.
Wine selection
The next phase is the selection of the wines that will form the blend. A broad and well-organised range of options, both generic and classified (including IGP, DOC and DOCG), makes it possible to match a wide variety of briefs.
All the wines drawn from the supplier network should undergo rigorous quality controls, carried out by qualified technicians using state-of-the-art instruments, so that the eventual blend respects analytical benchmarks as well as stability, balance and safety requirements.
Wine blending
The selected wines are then combined. When the client has supplied specific samples, these serve as benchmarks for crafting the blend; when no precise target is provided, it is common practice to develop several blend options, often presented in sets of three, each highlighting distinct characteristics in line with the client’s indications.
Bespoke wine tasting
The process culminates in tasting, where the client evaluates the proposed blends and makes informed decisions. This stage is also an opportunity for fine-tuning: feedback can prompt further adjustments, refining the blend until its taste profile, structure, stability, visual appeal and market positioning meet the agreed specifications.
The iterative nature of this phase is what ensures consistency between the brief and the finished wine.
Specialists in this field, such as Vinicola Vedovato Mario, complement the core blending activity with a full range of services, from packaging and private-label customisation to support in wine preparation, storage and delivery, both domestically and for export.
What is blending?
Blending sits at the heart of bespoke winemaking, and it is often misunderstood.
Blending does not mean artificially creating a wine or masking defects. It means skilfully combining the natural characteristics of different wines, understanding how their individual components interact, in order to achieve a harmonious and high-quality final product.
To blend well, a technician must have a profound understanding of each wine’s unique features, including its flavour profile, acidity, tannin structure and aromatic potential.
The art lies in anticipating how these elements will behave together, so that the combination enhances the best qualities of the wines involved and corrects imbalances, rather than simply averaging them out.
Done properly, blending delivers a wine that is more balanced, more expressive and better suited to its commercial purpose than any of its single components would be on its own.
It is precisely this capacity to “compose” a wine to specification that makes blending the technical engine of any bespoke project.
Importantly, all of this must take place within the boundaries set by denomination protocols and applicable regulations, which leads directly to the legal framework governing these practices.
National and European regulations that govern oenological practices
Custom blending is not a free-form activity: it is carried out within a precise legal framework that defines which oenological practices are permitted, how wines are classified and how denominations are protected. In the Italian and European context, three reference texts are particularly relevant.
EU Regulation 1308/2013 of 20 December 2013. This regulation establishes the rules on the common organisation of the markets in agricultural products, including wine. It provides precise definitions of IGT and DOC wines, sets out rules for the protection of denomination products, and establishes requirements for maintaining viticultural records, cellar logs and transport documents. It also defines the various categories of wine products, the viticultural zones, and the permitted oenological practices (such as enrichment, acidification and deacidification) together with their related restrictions.
EU Regulation 2019/934 of 12 March 2019. This regulation supplements Regulation 1308/2013 by detailing the viticultural zones where alcohol content may be increased, the authorised oenological practices and the applicable restrictions on the production and storage of wine products. It incorporates the reference tables of the OIV (International Organisation of Vine and Wine), lists the authorised oenological products and governs their use. Significantly for custom winemaking, it also defines the practice of blending for IGT and DOC wines and specifies the relevant analytical parameter limits.
Law 238/2016 of 21 December 2016. This Italian law provides a comprehensive framework for vine cultivation, wine production and wine trade, transposing the provisions of EU Regulation 1308/2013. Several of its articles (including Articles 3, 9, 11, 22, 28, 30, 33 and 38) address IGT and DOC wines specifically, covering their definitions, the applicable rules, the permitted manipulations and the oenological practices allowed.
For any serious bespoke wine operation, compliance with this framework is not optional. Respecting denomination protocols, classification rules and analytical limits is what guarantees that a custom wine is not only tailored to the client’s taste, but also legally sound, stable and ready for sale on national and international markets.
In this sense, regulatory compliance and quality control are inseparable from the creative side of blending: together, they are what turn a personalized idea into a marketable bottle.
