WOSA starts planning the triennial event 18 months before the show date, but the coronavirus outbreak has hampered progress.

The trade group revealed that the pandemic has had major impact on the South African wine industry’s revenues. Exports were banned for five weeks and domestic sales were halted for several months during the lockdown.

Exports are still slower than expected due to the port in Cape Town struggling to cope with the demand. This has had “a huge impact” on WOSA’s income, which is directly linked to exports, and also on the financial situation of many producers.

The combination of these two factors, plus being unable to secure a main sponsor for the event, has driven the decision to move the show back by a year.

WOSA chief executive Siobhan Thompson said: “With so much uncertainly over the future currently, we have taken the difficult decision to move the CapeWine show to 2022.

“Financial pressure and the lack of certainty over international travel in the longer term have made it impossible to plan for the event at this time.

“We know that CapeWine is a much-loved event and we want to ensure that the next one is bigger and better than ever.

“With that in mind, it is sensible to move to 2022, when we hope we’ll have a clearer insight into wine trade events and a more settled picture regarding resources.

“We cannot wait to welcome the international wine trade back to our beautiful winelands.”