THE Fijnwyn Bubbles and Food Festival scheduled to take place in Pretoria on 20 and 21 March was the first top South African wine event in 2020 to be called off in line with the SA government’s banning of gatherings involving more than 100 people as one of the measures to combat the Coronavirus – the pandemic having begun in China earlier in the year before spreading to much of the world. The banning followed the government’s declaration on Sunday 15 April of a national disaster in the wake of ‘Covid-19’ affecting over 100 countries, infections having risen to over 100 000 and deaths to over 4000, with an increasing number of people in South Africa contracting the disease that had begun to transmit within the country and no longer only as a result of business travellers and holidaymakers being infected overseas.

The next top SA wine event to be called off was the Stellenbosch Cabernet Collective’s Harvest Celebration scheduled for 21 March. Then came the postponemet of Caroline’s Fine Wine Cellar’s Platter’s 5 Star Tasting set for 19 March. And then that of Wine On Water at St Francis Bay, which was to have been held on 27 and 28 March.

Within hours thereafter came word that the following had been cancelled: the Johannesburg Cap Classique & Champagne Festival on 4 and 5 April, the Mpumalanga Wine Show in Nelspruit on 3 and 4 April, as well as the Pick n Pay Wine & Food Festival in Cape Town from 3 to 5 April, the Malbec Festival at Benguela Cove on 18 April and the Pinotage & Biltong Festival in Paarl on 18 and 19 April, the latter postponed until November.

It was also learnt that the Bot River Barrels & Beards Harvest Celebration due to happen on 18 April had been cancelled, and by the second day after the national disaster was declared, Tops at Spar took the step to postpone the Durban leg of their roadshow that was to have to happened from 7 to 9 May. On 18 March it was announced that the Elgin Cool Wine & Country Food Festival set for 1 and 2 May had been called off.

Besides the cancellation or postponement of numerous wine events around the country, a growing number of wine farms and estates announced that they had closed their wine-tasting rooms and restaurants at least until the end of March. Wine lovers planning a trip along any of South Africa’s wine routes are advised to phone ahead of their departure to avoid disappointment on arrival at their destination.

By Wednesday morning 18 April 2020, the World Health Organisation was reporting that Covid-19 had spread to 159 country, that the number of infections had risen to 184 976 and that the death toll had climbed to 7529. The South African Government was reporting that the number of confirmed cases in the country had risen to 85. For a WHO update, click here. For an update of the South African situation, click here.

• If, as and when there is news of other top SA wine events being cancelled or postponed because of the national disaster, the events pages on Top Wine SA will be updated accordingly.