What does it mean when wine is 'Certified'? 

Do you ever pay attention to the little grey-white sticker on a wine bottle that claims that the wine is ‘CERTIFIED’ or ‘GESERTIFISEER’ by the Wine and Spirit Board? What does it mean and how does it get there?

It means that the wine has passed a series of controls and checks and that the Wine and Spirit Board certifies that the information on the labels (front and back) is true and correct.

The certification process involves the following:

Firstly the wine making areas in the Cape are divided into Regions, Districts and wards.

SAWIS (SA Wine Industry Systems) administers the Wine of Origen Scheme on behalf of the Wine and Spirits board.  

If a wine producer wishes his wines to be certified he must keep detailed records and conform to the rules of the Wine of Origin scheme.  The important elements of this scheme are that wines must be what the labels say it is.  

Only listed wine grape varieties may be used to make certified wine.  I need to inform SAWIS every year of the wines we intend to make, the variety and the quantity.  If I buy in wine grapes from someone else, I need to inform them of that detail also.  I cannot buy from the Stellenbosch region if our label reads ‘Wine of Origin Tulbagh’.  But I am allowed to be less specific and say ‘Wine of Origin Coastal Region’ and since Tulbagh and Stellenbosch both fall into the Coastal Region, with this Origin designation I can use grapes from the Stellenbosch district. 

We need to tell SAWIS on the day that we harvest.  We need to tell SAWIS when we bottle wine.  Their representative then personally comes to collect three random bottle samples from the batch which is then analyzed and tasted.   They measure things like the levels of Alcohol, Sulphur, Acid impurities, evidence of tampering, etc.  The tasting panel needs to be convinced that the wine is of a minimum quality, that it has the aromas and tastes you would expect both from the variety and from the region or district. 

Therefore, if the Jagger’s Peak label claims that the bottle holds 750 ml Sauvignon Blanc 2006, at 14% alcohol and it is ‘Wine of Origin Tulbagh’, it must at least taste like a 2006 Sauvignon Blanc from Tulbagh.  The alcohol must measure between 13.5% and 14.5%.  and at least 85% of the wine must be Sauvignon Blanc and from the 2006 vintage.   Yes I am allowed 15% blending room, without declaring it on the label but I still need  SAWIS’s approval.

If the wine does not display enough varietal character, it gets rejected as a certified wine and I cannot declare the variety on the label.  I will have to sell my Sauvignon Blanc as Dry white or Blanc de Blanc without the white certification stamp.

Other reasons for rejection would be signs of oxidative characters or too much SO2 or other flaws.  Guess what you do then…..   you sell it as distilling wine at around R1.50 a litre!  Basically you trash the whole batch which could be thousands of liters.

So don’t ignore our precious little stickers.  They have meaning.

Legal and Illegal Additives

The following are examples of legal additives. 

• Wine yeast
• Yeast nutrients
• A controlled amount of sulphur dioxide upt to 160 parts per million. (Good wines will stay below 100)
• Tartaric acid
• A minute amount of enzymes
• Wood products, such as staves, chips
• A small amount of Ascorbic acid (Vitamin C)

 The following will get me into real trouble if I should add it:

• Water
• Sugar
• Flavourants
• Fruit other than the correct variety of grape.  
• Anything else I might fancy, not listed as legal.

 

 

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