Asparagus left in the ground, strawberries unpicked and vineyards without workers – the novel coronavirus has closed borders in Europe, making the passage of seasonal agricultural workers nearly impossible. This means a shortage of hands available to do the work. 

The Guardia di Finanza of Trento has seized vineyards and buildings worth more than €70m from the Sicilian winery Feudo Arancio, which belongs to Mezzacorona of Trentino. The basis for the seizure was alleged money laundering of assets belonging to mafia group Cosa Nostra.

Russian billionaires Gennady Timchenko and Yury Kovalchuk are expanding their presence in the domestic wine market with the acquisition of Inkerman, one of Russia’s largest wine producers, based in Crimea.  

While the novel coronavirus has taken the spotlight, the US wine tariffs are still in place and affecting swathes of the European wine industry. Two months after the tariffs were imposed in 2019, wine exports from Europe to the US dropped by 33%.

As the coronavirus pandemic causes lockdowns and shutdowns across the world, consumers in key markets are buying more wine – and changing their buying behaviour.

Michael Broadbent died on March 17th, 2020, at the age of 93

Families Torres, the Spanish producers renowned for their commitment to the environment, have launched another project – they are creating a vineyard devoted to Forcada, a white grape recovered from the edge of extinction.

Champagne house Maison Louis Roederer is to buy Diamond Creek Vineyards in Napa Valley. The acquisition comes less than a year after Louis Roederer bought Merry Edwards in Sonoma County.

The Bourgogne wine sector had a bumper sales year in 2019, despite the combined impact of American tariffs, Hong Kong unrest, Brexit uncertainty and the spread of Covid-19.

The German wine trade turn out in force at ProWein, to see the trends and taste the new wines. The cancellation of ProWein is therefore a blow for them, as well as for producers.

Adegga, an online wine retailer in Portugal, has organized a virtual, on-line wine trade fair aimed at helping the Portuguese wine producers that otherwise would have attended ProWein. 

ProWein will not take place in 2020. Messe Düsseldorf, the owners of ProWein, took the decision after consultation with numerous exhibitors.

Beniamino Garofalo has been appointed the new CEO of Santa Margherita, one of Italy’s largest and most significant wine companies. He began in the role on 1 March 2020.

Exports of German wine rose last year by 3%, though value dropped by €0.11 to €2.93 per litre, thanks to a larger harvest.

Soon after Messe Düsseldorf announced that ProWein was postponed, members of the wine trade began to make alternative arrangements, as not everybody can cancel flights or hotels rooms.