Coronavirus and the wine industry: Richard Esling, March 26

As the effects of the pandemic of COVID-19 are increasingly felt across the globe, no sector of industry or business is sheltered from the impact.
Ridgeview Cavendish BrutRidgeview Cavendish Brut
Ridgeview Cavendish Brut

The wines and spirits industry is reeling from a massive downturn in business, which undoubtedly could have medium to long term consequences.

The effects on the wine industry as a whole are enormous. Apart from a massive dip in consumption worldwide as restaurants, hotels, cafés, pubs and wine bars are shut, there is an impact on future buying.

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Prowein in Düsseldorf, the largest wine trade fair in Europe, was cancelled earlier this month, along with Vinitaly, the yearly Italian wine trade fair in Verona. All wine events and trade tastings have been cancelled in the UK and throughout Europe, affecting both buying procedures, media coverage and marketing. The same situation is occurring across the planet.

Trade wine tastings have traditionally involved communal spittoons. With the current risk of infection from coronavirus, this is totally unacceptable and begs the question as to whether it is acceptable at all, even in the future. Coronavirus is a very serious and largely unknown threat, but there are plenty of other viruses and infections that can be transmitted through spit.

In the short term, the supply chain of wines and spirits should be reasonably resilient, as many suppliers both online and offline keep good stocks. However, in the mid-term, deliveries of wines from the continent could be impacted if there is a shortage of drivers through either illness or quarantine. The temporary re-imposition of borders throughout Europe is already having an effect on movement of goods.

Longer term, there could be an impact on wine and spirit production. If workers cannot get to work through government control of the movement of people, with measures to prevent the spread of the virus, vines may not be sufficiently tended, wineries insufficiently staffed and bottling lines interrupted through lack of personnel.

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Wine tourism has become a significant income stream for many wine producers and is taking a serious hit. Wineries and wine estates from California to Australia, Italy, France and the UK are shutting their doors temporarily on Government advice.

The one thing with wine, is that it can be a great lifter of spirits, still important in times of crisis.

These are the most extraordinary times any of us have ever known, but the vast majority of us will get through it. The impact on the global economy will be substantial, but the origins of the downturn are totally different to the financial crash of 2008. Once a vaccine and effective treatments have been identified, the world will start to get back to normal and economies should hopefully bounce back far quicker than from the banking crisis.

So without overdoing it, a little glass of something special can help to keep spirits up, albeit you may be drinking in isolation.

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One local wine producer in Sussex has come-up with a great idea, which at one stroke will help to mitigate some of their losses and help the confined population with a little bit of cheer. Ridgeview, based in Ditchling and makers of some of the best English sparkling wine, has introduced complimentary next day delivery for any quantity of its wines since they “feel that our customers may need a little sparkle in their lives from time to time to see them through”.

Richard Esling BSc DipWSET is an experienced wine consultant, agent, writer and educator. An erstwhile wine importer, he runs a wine agency and consultancy company called WineWyse, is founder and principal of the Sussex Wine Academy, chairman of Arundel Wine Society and is an International Wine Judge. Follow him on Twitter @richardwje.

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In addition, please write to your MP urging the Government to provide some additional financial support for local newspapers and their websites like this one and ensuring that supermarkets continue to stock them. I cannot stress enough how important such an intervention would be.

We thank all our readers and advertisers for their understanding and support – and we wish YOU all the best in the coming weeks. Keep safe, and follow the Government advice. Thank you.

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