The year was atypical, due to the pandemic, but the quality of the Algarve's wines will not be affected. The expectation of the Algarve Wine Commission (CVA) is that «the quality is the same and that, in terms of quantity, the values of last year are maintained»: 1,2 million liters of wine.
Sara Silva, president of the Algarve Wine Commission, in an interview with Sul Informação, explained that this was a wine year very affected by Covid-19. Even during the harvest, which takes place between August and September, "there was respect for the rules imposed, to protect the teams in a pandemic context."
The harvest began in August «with the white wines. This year we started relatively earlier, but it's normal in the Algarve. We always start earlier than in the rest of the country, due to the hours of sunshine we have. Thus, the degree of maturation of the grapes is reached more quickly».
In terms of value, «the expectation is to keep the numbers of last year, which should be around 1 million and 200 thousand liters of wine. We have new vineyards to produce for the first time and we have good expectations and we expect good quality of the wine».
The pandemic affected the way of harvesting, but it also changed the flow of wines from the Algarve. Restaurants and hotels, the two main customers of the Algarve producers, were forced to close their doors during the confinement and there were difficult months.
«During the State of Emergency period, the restaurants were minimized in their activity. There was a very significant drop in sales of Algarve wines. On the other hand, the wine tourism part was also very conditioned. Without the HORECA channel and with wine tourism unavailable, the producers had some good months there, from March to June, with great difficulties in sales».
From June onwards, «with the reopening of the restaurants, the economy picked up a bit, the Algarve moved a little more and wine sales also increased. There was a good pace of activity here, albeit lower than the prospects we had last year».
Sara Silva says that this whole situation “was challenging for our producers, who showed resilience and thought of alternatives. There was a rethinking of marketing strategies, there was an increase in communication on social networks and a greater focus on online sales. During this period, what was disregarded or placed in the background was brought to the fore».
The president of the CVA emphasizes that “the producers, during this period of pandemic, tried to organize themselves and create infrastructure for online sales, creating websites and creating conditions to communicate with their customers. THE CVA also made available, on its website, an online sales platform, to make it easier, for those interested in Algarve Wines, to find the right places to go shopping».
This type of direct sales to the consumer “still doesn't have the scale of the HORECA channel or wine tourism sector, but it allows us to reach a slightly more distant audience and make all purchases without physical contact, which is important in the context of pandemic".
The Algarve Wine Commission was also forced to adapt to the new reality. “This pandemic has taught us that there are things that make us open our eyes and we have to restructure our own communication. The same happened with the CVA. We had a series of events and initiatives planned for this year, but we had to adapt our schedule, focusing it more on social media. We had a very strong dynamic, also with the publication of some videos. It is something that we will continue to bet on, as long as there is no prospect of resumption of promotional events», he concluded.
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