3 minute read
From The Board Nick Entwistle
From the Board
NICK ENTWISTLE
COVID-19, that bastard that took the shine off one of the best vintages in recent history, with a sea of hand sanitiser and self-isolation, continues to provide challenges for wineries looking to bring their wines to market.
We may well have eliminated it from our local communities, albeit with a few cases cropping up at the border at the time of writing. But in many of the overseas markets into which we sell our wines the pandemic continues to cause significant disruptions to people’s lives and livelihoods. The phrase ‘new normal’ is something we are all becoming more and more familiar with, a simple term outlining the realisation that things may never go back to the way they were before. But what does that mean for an industry whose traditional marketing and sales strategies are often closely linked to overseas travel, socialising, and storytelling? How are wineries continuing to engage with customers and consumers in this new age of travel restrictions and social distancing?
It is not surprising that the biggest impact has been felt by those producers who rely heavily on on-premise wine sales, with the abrupt closure of bars and restaurants worldwide having an immediate effect on sales in many markets, whereas those producers selling through offpremise and online channels seem to be faring somewhat better. With overseas travel off the table for the foreseeable future, many wineries are now turning to the online world to maintain engagement with customers and consumers alike. Zoom and other video conferencing technologies have been rapidly adopted as a means of providing somewhat familiar wine experiences, such as winemaker led tastings, albeit via a computer screen rather than face to face.
Speaking with a number of winemakers across the region, it sounds like many are embracing the technology and getting creative with the experiences offered, which range from wine and cheese pairings to virtual “long lunches”, and in one case even wine and yoga classes. This ability to interact directly with consumers, many of whom are still in lockdown and under quarantine conditions in the safety and security of their own homes, has resulted in many tastings being far better subscribed than if they had been held in market prior to lockdown. As one winemaker put it, “we had more people attend the online tasting than we ever would have if I had flown halfway around the world to present the wines in person; that being said, I did have to get up at 4am to do the tasting due to the difference in time
zone! The adage ‘it’s wine o’clock somewhere’ certainly rings true now more than ever.”
Ongoing travel restrictions are also set to have a significant impact on flying winemakers who would normally leave Marlborough in the coming months for harvests in the northern hemisphere. Online tools have always been central to communication with winemaking clients overseas, but the technology can only go so far towards the skills and experience that can be provided in person. For most, the risk of illness coupled with the mandatory time spent in quarantine post travel makes the prospect of an overseas vintage this year unviable.
Mind you, they say necessity is the mother of invention and us Kiwis have a long and proud history of getting stuck in to make the best out of a tough situation. I am sure that with the pool of creative and innovative minds who now find themselves local for the foreseeable future, in the coming months we will see many more new and exciting ways in which we can continue to take our unique wines and stories to the world.
For the time being, online tastings may be the “new normal”, but eventually bars and restaurants will reopen, border restrictions will be removed, and we’ll be able to get back out in the trade again with bottles in hand to catch up with our wine friends around the world.
