After years of drought, a summer of bushfires and now a global pandemic, wineries in the Southern Highland are feeling the strain.
Winemaker and manager at Tractorless Vineyard Jeff Aston said his business depended heavily on tours and tastings to keep afloat.
“Probably 80 to 90 per cent of our business is tour groups, so even now as things are opening a bit more, we still can’t, there’s still no point,” Mr Aston said.
“There’s only so many you can do in a week compared to in a day you can open the cellar door and you can have hundreds and hundreds of people walk in the door and buy a bottle of wine, but to do that on a virtual level, there’s a lot more work involved.”
Mr Aston said he wants people to buy local.
“When you go and buy from a big chain, it’s going to a big corporation but if you bought your shopping from a local producer that’s going to change someone’s life. I don’t think it would change anyone’s life at Woolies,” Mr Aston said.