Of course, the most important story in the world of wine in 2020 (as it was in the world and will be in 2021) was the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic affected every aspect of the wine industry. It shut down tasting rooms, almost eliminated sales demand from restaurants and bars and forced changes in how winery and vineyard staff work. Countless tasting events were cancelled, some were converted to virtual events, and others were scaled down to comply with public health orders.
“Pivot” became the most used word for enterprises of all kinds. In wine, switching to online sales, virtual tastings, and offering delivery and curbside pickup became necessary to survive. Expect these to continue in 2021. Overall wine sales ended up slightly, though large volume wines sold better than wines from smaller premium wineries. I do worry about retail selection being more limited, though access to online sales from smaller wineries offsets that somewhat.
Then one of the hottest summers on record brought one of the worst wildfire years on record. And shone a spotlight on the second most important wine story in 2020 – climate change. First in Australia, then America’s West Coast, especially in Oregon and Northern California, several wineries were damaged and some were destroyed, and vineyard workers were threatened, while “smoke taint” in vineyards has meant many wineries will not produce some of their wines this year.
More than 8,200 fires burned more than 4 million acres in California, more than double the previous record. In the U.S., there were 22 billion-dollar weather events, the sixth year in a row of $10+ billion-dollar weather events. The wildfires in California have been estimated to cost $5-$9 billion.
Even when the pandemic is “over”, the effects of climate change will continue. As global temperatures rise, growers are looking to higher altitudes to replace existing vineyards. Studies predict some wine regions will become incapable of the same quality within thirty years. In Bordeaux and other regions, they’re planting new grape varieties as a precaution. Scientific studies predict several wine regions will become incapable of producing the same quality in the next thirty years. More and more wineries are adopting practices to reduce their carbon footprint. Expect that to accelerate.
The debate over alcohol’s place in a healthy diet ratcheted up as a government advisory panel recommended the U.S. reduce the guidelines for men from no more than two glasses of alcohol a day to one. After a firestorm of opposition from industry, the USDA’s new dietary guidelines retained the existing definition of moderate alcohol consumption. The debate will continue, though. As will the debate over wine labeling, even as a majority of consumers support putting ingredient and nutritional information on the bottle.
If there wasn’t enough disruption already, the U.S. dramatically increased tariffs against the European Union(notably French, German and Spanish non-sparkling wines) in 2019, and expanded tariffs in 2020 causing imports to the U.S. to drop considerably and cost many jobs. Europe responded by increasing sales to China. Needless to say, the industry hopes the new administration ends the tariffs.
The wine world also was not isolated from the social movements of the year. The Black Lives Matter protests and scandal at the Court of Master Sommeliers brought increased attention to the lack of diversity and revelations of sexual harassment and assault in the hospitality industry. It’s too soon to tell but there have been encouraging signs in the wine trade, restaurants and bars are beginning to take a serious look at racism and sexism within their own ranks.
All of these matters will still be at issue in 2021. What’s clear is that there will be no return to “normal”; maybe a new normal or several new normals; but there is no going back. And that is as it should be. Long standing assumptions were challenged. We learned a lot in 2020 (let’s hope it sticks). And hopefully perseverance and change will be the watch words for 2021.