As the highly contagious novel coronavirus becomes a threat to countries around the world, a flurry of wine events have been cancelled around the world with large gatherings banned, restaurants, bars and hotels shut.
It’s going to be a puritan year for wine lovers after major trade fairs including ProWein Dusseldolf, Vinitaly and Vinexpo Hong Kong all affected by the virus outbreak.
Here we have rounded up the events that have fallen victim to the virus here in Hong Kong so you can keep your event calendar updated. We trust that when the virus is over, people can rejoin together and celebrate these wine events in joy.
Women of Wine Festival
The Women of Wine (WoW) Festival is a celebration of high achieving women in the wine and F&B industry and other fields in Hong Kong. Launched and organised by Debra Meiburg MW, the event has become a popular event in the city.
The festival blends wine education, wine tasting, networking sessions, with inspirational seminars, masterclasses and workshops on food/wine/lifestyle and beyond.
Writing on Instagram to announce the news, the organiser says, “For the health and safety of our partners, speakers, guests and staff, the crew of Women of Wine (WoW) Festival has come to a tough decision to postpone the festival due to the COVID-19 situation. Many thanks for your continued support and understanding.”
For ticket-holders, a full-refund will be issued.
The Fine Wine Experience – Burghound Symposium
The flagship event by Hong Kong’s leading Burgundy importer The Fine Wine Experience, Burghound Symposium, was cancelled for this year, due to the threat of coronavirus.
The 2020 edition was scheduled to take place in March across three different cities namely Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.
Announcing the decision, the company wrote on its website, “but the safety of everyone involved – the producers, speakers, The Fine Wine Experience team, and yours, is our top priority, and so must come first.”
A revised programme for later in 2020 is expected to be announced. All ticket-holders will receive a full refund, the company says.
Wine Australia’s withdrawal from Vinexpo Hong Kong
At this year’s Vinexpo Hong Kong, Wine Australia’s usual pavilion will be conspicuously absent.
Wine Australia CEO Andreas Clark announced earlier in March that the wine trade organisation will withdraw from Vinexpo Hong Kong, even though the trade fair has been rescheduled from May to July.
“Wine Australia has decided not to participate in Vinexpo Hong Kong and reschedule our China Roadshow from June. We anticipate the Roadshow will be held from 14–23 September, assuming that the Australian Government advice supports our return to market in September,” it says.
At this stage, Wine Australia will participate in ProWine Asia in Singapore which is now postponed to November. ProWein Dusseldolf however this year was completely cancelled and postponed to next year in March.
“We are working on the assumption that ProWine China will proceed as scheduled from 10–12 November but we will notify you of any updates as they become available,” it adds.
UGCB Bordeaux En Primeur
L’Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux, the trade org representing 134 chateaux in Bordeaux, the has officially cancelled this year’s Bordeaux En Primeur tasting over the threat of coronavirus, which already caused a complete lock-down in Spain and Italy and partial lock-down in France.
This would mean that the UGCB Asia tour might be affected, but so far on its website, it still says Asia tour in Singapore, Hong Kong and Vietnam is scheduled for May 2020.
