Wine contracts in Italy

Since wine is an agri‑food good, the regulation of its production and distribution processes is characterized by multidisciplinarity, as it embraces varied sectors of law, both in the context of public and private law and is mostly aimed at protecting the health of the consumer and to guarantee product quality. From a private point of view, the contracts that are used for the production and distribution of wine are therefore numerous and concern all phases of the process. This article aims specifically to analyse those transactions that regulate the moment in which the finished product, the bottled and labelled wine, is placed on the market by the producing company in the legal capacity it has chosen: agricultural, commercial or food company, in accordance with the provisions of the articles 2082, 2135 and 2195 of the Civil Code, since it is in this phase that some legal specificities typical of the wine product can be identified. The placing of the finished wine product on the market can take place according to different models, therefore, between different legal entities depending on the role they play in the distribution chain: a) from producer to consumer: direct sale, off‑line or on‑line b) from producer to a wine intermediary/dealer, then to the consumer c) from producer to another food and wine entrepreneur The regulations applied to the different cases of transferring wine from the producer to the final consumer will be different.