Diary in the time of coronavirus

It was an unusual spring this year at the Marchese Luca Spinola estate: for Andrea and Nora, the season with the largest number of visits to clients and international tradeshows was transformed into a time of waiting and worry due to the dramatic impact of the Covid-19 health emergency.

Participation at the top events in the wine industry, such as Foodex in Japan and Vinitaly in Verona, was cancelled, but after some initial confusion it became clear that activities could be re-organised to benefit everyone confined to their homes: although the long lockdown in Italy meant that international orders and orders from the hospitality trade were suspended, it also led to a rise in demand for wine from private individuals. The possibility to deliver our four organic wine labels to clients across Italy, from Turin and Genoa to Rome and Milan, showed us that we could bring a little relief to our faithful customers, who appreciated the enthusiasm and timeliness of our response and created a “word of mouth” among friends and families that introduced our wines to a great many homes.

Our passion is contagious and so we suggested that our followers send us an image illustrating the end of the lockdown for a story on our Instagram channel #stayathome.

We also decided to use a video on Instagram to present our fourth label, the brand new Gavi del Comune di Tassarolo. Even if conducted virtually, the dialogue with clients who have already tried the new naturally organic wine was very positive, with admiring comments about its freshness and lightness, as well as about the label, which reproduces the vineyard where the grapes are grown: on the table, it really is true that “you drink what you see”!