February 5, 1921: The Willis-Campbell Act was established to control medicinal and religious use of wine. It was a piece of legislation established in the United States during Prohibition to clarify and reinforce rules on alcohol for therapeutic reasons. Lawmakers Frank B. Willis of Ohio and Philip P. Campbell of Kansas drafted legislation that said only “spirituous and vinous liquors” (i.e., spirits and wine) might be administered medicinally. To make matters worse, the maximum amount of alcohol that may be prescribed was decreased to half a pint. Physicians were only allowed to write a maximum of 100 prescriptions for alcohol within ninety days. In popular parlance, it was referred to as the “beer emergency bill.”

February 5, 2020: The international response to the burgeoning COVID-19 epidemic had a massive impact on the wine industry. Late in 2019, the sector was already dealt a significant hit due to many countries imposing higher tariffs on wine imports. The political instability in Europe, partly caused by Brexit, made the situation much worse. Many significant international fairs, such as ProWine Singapore, Vinexpo Hong Kong, and the Prowein trade fair, were forced to cancel their plans. Tourism became close to impossible.

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