COVID-19: ‘Family-run wine companies are well-suited to face crises’

In part 2 of the interview with members of Primum Familiae Vini on COVID-19, the world’s most famous family-owned wine companies speak on how strength lies in unity, and how their past will show them how to handle the future with fortitude

How do you think this pandemic (COVID-19) will affect the future of the world wine industry in  the long term? And your region in particular?

What changes, if any, in your company philosophy/marketing strategy will you making for the future? 

Miguel Torres Jr, Familia Torres, Catalunya, Spain

As mentioned before, this year we are 150 years old as a winery, and all 5 generations have had to work hard and adapt to very tough situations and events at some time in the past.

For example, the bombardment of our winery which took place on 20th January 1939, towards the end of the Civil War. This destroyed an important part of our cellar and meant the loss of a great amount of wine that was ageing in barrels and big wooden vats. At the time my grandfather suddenly found himself with two big problems: he had less capacity to make and store wine and at the same time, he needed money to finance the reconstruction of the winery.

This was when both my grandparents went on a long trip to Cuba, Mexico, the United States and Canada to look for new markets and clients. They travelled by ship to Havana where they arrived in November 1939, and they returned in April 1941; so they were away from home for one year and a half! After that, there were shorter trips and one of them brought the great news of an important order in the form of a telegram sent from Havana on the 28th of December 1942, in which my grandfather wrote: “Problem continuity of service of our wines solved. First important guaranteed order. Activate works reconstruction winery. Miguel Torres”. (“Resuelto continuidad servicio de nuestros vinos. Primer importante pedido garantizado. Activen obra reconstrucion bodega. Miguel Torres”).

So I hope that soon in time, I will be able to send a mail to our entire team, that a solution for COVID-19 has been found, that the world is recovering, our team is recovering, our teams’ families are recovering and that our bodega is recovering. And in this same mail, I would thank each and everyone for all their impressive work, sacrifice and care during this exceptional period of time.

But for the moment I can only wish everyone to stay strong and positive.

Nicolò Incisa della Rocchetta, Tenuta San Guido, Bolgheri, Italy

Today’s situation is different, of course, but we are trying to deal with this unprecedented challenge by looking at the possible positive outcomes of this crisis. Wine, like agriculture, has existed for thousands of years as the basis of our life and for this reason, it has survived many catastrophes.

In the aftermath of the COVID-19 emergency, people will be looking forward to going back to their normal lives and will look for occasions to be together, possibly even more than before. They might discover new opportunities and situations more centred around values that had got forgotten in the past. We expect that wine and food will be central to people’s lives, creating occasions for conviviality and sharing. We all are looking forward to celebrating with our family and friends for the rebirth of the world after a dark moment in history.

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The uncompromised quest for quality and the strong connection to our territory has always been the basis of our production philosophy. We hope that the difficult times we are enduring today will make us grow stronger, more aware and united. Our commitment to the family business and attachment to the land is a real strength of our business. Equally important are the dedication and engagement of the people with whom we work. It is necessary to invest and support them as much as possible.

This moment of great difficulties may also increase the “human” value to our company because we will eventually learn how to overcome this period united while upholding our deepest and strongest principles, as we have always done in the past. Hopefully, this will ultimately translate into positive results on the commercial side, as consumers will also recognize these values and qualities in our family business and identify them with our wines.

 Paul Symington, Symington Family Estates, Porto, Portugal

It is hard to say at this stage how this will impact our industry, but it is likely to be a long period before full recovery occurs. Wine is very dependent on travel, tourism and enjoyment, eating out, etc. People will not be doing this for a while. But eventually, they will and we will be ready with good wines.
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As a family, we think long-term so we will not make radical changes to our philosophy. It has served us well for many generations. Family wine companies are well-suited to face crises; we tighten our belts, focus on our vineyards and our wines and we wait for better times. This does not always occur in publicly listed companies with impatient shareholders.

Albiera Antinori, Marchesi Antinori, Tuscany, Italy.

 
It is difficult to say at the moment, it will depend on how long the pandemic lasts. If we can get back to reasonable business by August/ September, we forecast a strong lowering of our turnover and margins, but we believe we can face that, also because we do not have any shareholders who will want their dividends. If the pandemic will last six months longer, it will become very difficult.
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We will see when we will have a clearer idea of where we are heading. What is sure is that the HORECA, especially of our domestic market, is the one that will suffer most, also in the long term as it will take time before tourism will be back to normal. 

Pablo Alvarez, Vega Sicilia, Ribera del Duero, Spain

I think no one can imagine what we are going through, something so terrible and something that we have undoubtedly never experienced, at least in our lifetime. Spain is being impacted exceptionally hard and many people are suffering. This proves how vulnerable we are as human beings and we must keep in mind that a similar event or an even worse situation can occur in the future. I hope we are able to learn from this, although people tend to easily forget their misfortunes. I hope we don’t forget. This time, what we call the welfare state has been shaken by a pandemic and since it has reached all developed countries we are lost and distressed with such a disaster. Please allow me to say that thousands of children are dying in the world each day from starvation, but little do we know or are willing to do for them… as if this has nothing to do with us. Will we learn?

 
I feel wineries are facing many challenges, especially those whose sales rely on bars and restaurants. But this is a matter of withstanding, and we will all come through. Many are working at a slower pace, but the work in the vineyards cannot stop and it is essential for this to continue. It’s hard to say what the future will hold for the wine industry after this pandemic, but something must change from a sales perspective. We export 70% of our production to 150 countries.  Asia starts to awaken, it seems.
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Our strategy is focused on how we will help our customers in Spain and all of our importers so they can recover their markets. We will travel more in the future to give them support. But what is most important at this moment is to help our employees anyway we can. People are suffering terribly, and we must be by their side and preserve their jobs above all.

It’s time for sacrifice and we are willing to do so.

The PFV (www.PFV.org) consists of 12 member families:

Marchesi Antinori (Italy)

Joseph Drouhin (Bourgogne, France)

Egon Muller Scharzhof (Germany)

Famille Hugel (Alsace, France)

Familia Torres (Spain)

Château Mouton Rothschild (Bordeaux, France)

Château de Beaucastel (Rhône Valley, France)

Vega Sicilia (Spain)

Tenuta San Guido – Sassicaia (Italy)

Symington Family Estates (Portugal)

Champagne Pol Roger (France)

Château Haut Brion (Bordeaux, France)

Main image: Geert Teuwen. Pablo Alvarez: Mickael Boudot