The Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics have begun and the story of the Games is taking shape even off the slopes, in the places where the city comes together to watch the competitions. This is where Prosecco DOC comes in as the Official Sparkling Wine Sponsor of Milan Cortina 2026, a choice that stems from common ground in terms of territorial identity, sustainability, and the ability to speak to an international audience. The designation involves nine provinces in Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia and represents one of the most popular Italian products in the world: a reality that, like the Games, thrives on global relationships but has its roots in a specific territory. The partnership reflects this meeting between local dimension and international vision, transforming the moment of the toast into a collective gesture that accompanies the sporting celebration and becomes part of the Olympic experience in the city.
The inauguration of the Prosecco DOC Sparkling Hub
A story that found its Milanese home in Piazza San Babila, where the lights of the Prosecco DOC Sparkling Hub were turned on. From the morning of February 7, the day after the opening of the Winter Olympics, the space welcomed an audience of enthusiasts and professionals, with talks and raised glasses. The gastronomic moment organized by the Associazione Maestro Martino, inaugurated by President Carlo Cracco, was an opportunity for conviviality, while the dialogue with athletes—including Marina Lubian, Karen Putzer, and Federico Andreoli—brought the energy and values of the newly started competitions to the space. Between the story of the Road to the Games project murals, the meetings, and the aperitif by The Spirit and Panino Giusto, the inauguration gave a concrete image of what the lounge promises for the Olympic weeks: a space where people can experience the competitions together, stop, meet, and celebrate each day of sport with the shared spirit of a toast.
The home of the Olympics in the city
Until February 28, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., the Sparkling Hub will remain open to the public as an immersive space where visitors can stop, meet, taste a glass of Prosecco DOC, receive special free gadgets, and follow the competitions live. Upon entering, the impression is that of crossing the threshold of an urban living room dedicated to sport and sharing. Here, you can taste different expressions of Prosecco DOC guided by expert sommeliers, discover the licensed label dedicated to the Games, and visit the exhibition of murals created in the run-up to Milan Cortina 2026. The lounge thus becomes a place where time expands between competitions, between toasts and conversations.
One of the common threads of the experience is the CinCin Milano Cortina guide, an editorial project that recounts the culture of aperitifs between Milan and Cortina, distributed throughout the space, where you can discover cocktails designed specifically to celebrate the Olympic spirit and Italianness. Like Respiro, Sfida, and Fiamma, three signature cocktails featuring Prosecco DOC bubbles in homage to the Italian flag.
Tastings, cocktails, and viewing parties
At the Sparkling Hub, Prosecco DOC takes center stage in many forms. Guided tastings allow you to explore the different expressions of the appellation, while cocktails created by The Spirit cocktail bar take bubbles to a more creative and informal dimension. The special bottle dedicated to the Olympics becomes a tangible symbol of this encounter between sport and lifestyle, an object that recounts the occasion and the historic moment.
During the day, the space comes alive with moments of socializing and spontaneous encounters, while in the evening the atmosphere changes pace and prepares for the most eagerly awaited events.
On February 12 and 20, from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., the Sparkling Hub hosts Watching Parties, a moment to share the excitement of the competitions in good company. The competitions thus become the center of a collective experience consisting of Olympic-themed cocktails and sandwiches by Panino Giusto, a historic Milanese eatery, reinterpreted in five variations inspired by the continents. Another opportunity to experience the Olympic spirit together, subject to availability.
A new and different way to experience the Olympics: together, in the heart of the city, with the euphoric spirit that accompanies every major event. A date to mark in your diary for those who want to breathe in the energy of the Games up close.
Road to the Games: Milan transformed into an urban gallery
The exhibition hosted at the Sparkling Hub brings together the works of the Road to the Games project, the artistic journey with which Prosecco DOC has accompanied Milan towards the Olympics in recent years. The Consortium has promoted a series of seven murals created by Italian artists to celebrate, through urban art, Milan with its traditions and its most important and world-renowned events in a real accompaniment to the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games: from the opening night at La Scala in Milan to Fashion Week, Art Week, the Milan Summer Festival, and Christmas celebrations. This project reflects the Consortium’s philosophy: to promote the excellence of the region through initiatives that express Italian spirit, innovation, and shared creativity.
The works celebrate figures and symbols of Italian culture—from music to fashion to gastronomic traditions—and construct a visual narrative that focuses on creativity, talent, and regional identity. Among these, Frode’s portrait of Giuseppe Verdi in Corso Garibaldi pays homage to Milan’s musical tradition on the occasion of La Scala’s opening night, also evoked during the inauguration ceremony, while SteReal’s mural in Piazza XXIV Maggio intertwines fashion and femininity with the image of an elegant figure accompanied by a glass of Prosecco DOC to celebrate Fashion Week. The most recent mural, by Federico Epis, in Via Ripamonti, a stone’s throw from the Olympic Village, depicts the encounter between city and mountains, between tradition and future.
All the interventions are part of a seven-stage program designed to accompany the city until the Games, transforming Milan into a widespread urban gallery. This program takes on a new form in the Sparling Hub in San Babila, where visitors can admire the works in the immersive setting of the lounge and take home a special souvenir thanks to the dedicated posters and postcards.
The project is emblematic of Prosecco DOC’s mission: to enhance the territory, promote Italian talent, and transform every opportunity to meet into a moment of sharing. The exhibition thus becomes the ideal conclusion to the experience, a passage that ideally unites the dimension of the competitions with that of culture and the city that hosts them.
