The World’s Best Vineyards 2020, due to take place in Sonoma County, California on 13 July, will now become a virtual ceremony hosted on the same date. Organisers William Reed Business Media, and 2020 partners Sonoma County Winegrowers, hope to spread a message of solidarity with the wine tourism community across the globe by announcing the best wine destinations in the world and recognising their impressive efforts.

Andrew Reed, managing director of events and exhibitions at William Reed, comments: “We appreciate that these are difficult times and the situation with COVID-19 is changing constantly. However, one thing is sure and that is the impact that wine tourism has on visitors around the globe in helping them to create lasting memories. Let’s not forget also the impact that wine tourism has on local economies by providing employment for tens of thousands of people. In announcing this list we hope to recognise the efforts of the winning wineries and to give them a platform to rise again when the travel industry recovers.”

The World’s Best Vineyards website will soon reveal details about how guests from all over the world will be able to join the ceremony on 13 July 2020. In the lead-up to the event, the World’s Best Vineyards will continue to inspire wine, gourmet and travel fans by highlighting some of the 2019 winners on its social media channels keeping wine tourism front of mind.

Commenting on the decision to organise an online event, Karissa Kruse, president of Sonoma County Winegrowers shares: “We were looking forward to hosting our guests and media from around the world in Sonoma County. We are proud of our diverse landscapes, more than 50 miles of coastline and 18 unique wine growing regions which focus on sustainability. Not least, we wanted to share our amazing wines! However, we actually see this as a great opportunity to keep wine tourism alive through virtual means. This is a time when the international wine community must come together and embrace our industry. We are looking forward to the announcement of the new list and hosting as many people from around the world as possible at this virtual event.”