CapeWine 2021 postponed

By Lisa Riley

Published: 15 June, 2020

Wines of South Africa (WoSA) has announced that CapeWine has been moved from its planned slot in September 2021 to October 2022.

The move is a result of the Covid-19 pandemic impacting on the planning of the event, held in Cape Town and hosted by WoSA, which usually begins in earnest 18 months before the show date, said the generic trade body.

Financial pressure and the lack of certainty over international travel in the longer term had made it impossible to plan for the event at this time, said Siobhan Thompson, CEO of WoSA.

“With so much uncertainly over the future currently, we have taken the difficult decision to move the CapeWine show to 2022.

“We know that CapeWine is a much-loved event and we want to ensure that the next one is bigger and better than ever. With that in mind, it is sensible to move to 2022, when we hope we’ll have a clearer insight into wine trade events and a more settled picture regarding resources."

The situation in 2020 has had a major impact on the South African wine industry, with exports banned for a five week period and domestic wine sales stopped for an even longer period, only resuming on 1 June 2020 when the country moved to a level three lockdown.

The WoSA said that exports are still “slower than expected” due to the port in Cape Town struggling to cope with the demand.

This, it said, has had a huge impact on WoSA’s income, which is directly linked to exports, and also on the financial situation of many producers.

The combination of these two factors, plus being unable to secure a main sponsor for the event, had driven the decision to move the show back by a year, it added.

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