Telling a wedding that they had to cut back from 120 guests to 87 due to COVID-19 restrictions "wasn't much fun" for the owners of Pomonal Estate winery.
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Adam and Pep Atchison said they were disappointed after the Victorian Government postponed plans to increase dining capacity to 50 people.
Premiere Daniel Andrews announced on Sunday 21 June that dining venues would remain with 20-person limits until at least July 12, due to the alarming surge of COVID-19 cases.
"Our cellar door can seat 40 patrons inside with social distancing, so it was much more worth our while to open for 50 patrons," Mr Atchison said.
"We had already hired a chef and decided the best thing to do was open. Our first day back was last Wednesday and we hit maximum capacity."
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Mr Atchison said before lockdown the winery was booked out with social gatherings, functions and weddings.
"The restrictions started coming in and we had a wedding booked for 120 guest. It wasn't much fun telling them they had to cut it down to 87 people," Mr Atchison said.
During lockdown Mr Atchison kept busy with online orders and deliveries to customers in Stawell, Ararat, Halls Gap and Pomonal.
"We also offered takeaway for a day during lockdown but decided it wasn't for us," Mr Atchison said.
"Job Keeper has been a saviour. I doubt whether we would have opened last week without it."
Mr Atchison said the lockdown was their first big break since opening in December 2017, which has given them the opportunity to spend time on the vineyard.
"We harvested fruit last year but we still have another three years to get volume. We have two local winemakers producing wine for us."
Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management David Littleproud said because of the COVID-19 restrictions wineries haven't been able to sell previous year's vintages.
"The best thing any Australian can do is to get around the country and go and have a few glasses of wine at one of our local wineries because they need the help," Mr Littleproud said.
"There's plenty of vintage there from last year and there'll be plenty going into the future. We're just going to have to wait for 2021 and I'm sure after what we've gone through we'll be bigger and better than last year."
Barangaroo Wines manager Sheila McClure said the retraction of the 50 person limit hasn't affected their business.
"Our venue is constrained by the four square metre rule so it wasn't an issue," Mrs McClure said.
"The biggest change has been the hygiene requirements and making sure our customers are social distancing."
Mrs McClure said they winery has been at full capacity on weekends and they have received bookings for small weddings.
"Later in the year we will have significant reduction in the number of night events we would normally have. Wedding receptions and Christmas parties have been cancelled," Mrs McClure said.
"In the vineyard we are in full swing with pruning and working through plans for fertiliser in Spring."
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