You're not the Only One in a Lockdown Limbo...

In level four, South Africa has entered a critical time to regain its momentum as one of the world’s top wine export regions. The pressure is on bulk wine producers to fulfill current contracts and seal next year’s trade deals while they play catchup with fluctuating exchange rates and a backlog in exports.

Since the start of South Africa’s lockdown, its wine industry’s backbone has been hit hard. Bulk wine producers represent approximately 85 percent of the industry in terms of production. In exports, bulk wine surpasses bottled wine numbers.

I connected with Leenders Wines winemaker and Cape Wine Master (2014), Francois Bezuidenhout and industry friends, Sterik de Wet and Johan Gerber on the challenges they are facing in the lockdown and next steps in the 'new normal'.

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