Integrity & Sustainability Certificate

This seal, launched for the 2010 vintage in South Africa, certifies that the wine has been made in a manner that is respectful to nature and guarantees sustainable wine production.

The Wine and Spirit Board (WSB) certifies that :

• The vintage, variety(ies) and origin as stated on the label are correct
• The wine has been grown and produced sustainably
• The wine is traceable from the vine to the bottle
• The wine has been bottled in South Africa

The seal was awarded to South Africa by the "Wine and Spirit Board". This neutral agency monitors the journey of a wine from the vineyard to the bottle as well as the taste profile and it guarantees the accuracy of the information printed on the label. By looking at the seal number, wine fans can find out information about their wine online. This voluntary initiative enables the wine country South Africa to set a good example.

South Africa's wines prosper in one of the most speciose areas in the whole world, namely Cape Floral Kingdom in the Western Cape region. About 10.000 unique plants, particularly the speciose fynbosvegetation can be found only there. In order to protect this area from the danger of urbanization and intensification of agriculture, it was declared UNESCO World heritage in 2004.

Since South Africa depends on biodiversity in order to meet its quality requirements, winemakers (led by the export association "Wines of South Africa" - WOSA) pushed for a debate with local environmentalists. "We want to protect nature and wine at the same time and sustain these for our future generations", Su Birch, CEO of Wines of South Africa, explains about their motivation to found "Biodiversity & Wine Initiative" (BWI) in 2004.

Together with the environmentalists, guidelines and programes for the protection of species were figured out and enforced. The success was enormous: Within six years, the 115 BWI-members voluntarily protected about 113.000 hectares and removed old and dead plants from the fields. In order to increase the protective work processes, the biodiversity-guidelines were included in the comprehensive programe "Integrated Production of wine (IPW)". The fast and obvious improvement of biocapacity, like the increase in sea level on the farms, made vintners more prepared to have their environmental committment certified by a neutral institute.

 The examining agency hired by the Department of Agriculture, the "Wine of Spirit Board", was willing to control the duly enforcement of sustainable wine production according to the IPW in the future.

The board has been in charge of monitoring the true origin and sensoric as well as analytic exam of every vine type and vintage with its seal on the bottle neck since 1973.

This so-called "Wine of Origin-seal" is expanded by a "green" color edition, the "Sustainable Wines of South Africa"seal with the vintage 2010. This seal will be for wines that were produced in accordance with sustainability methods from the vineyard to the bottle in South Africa. Su Birch is happy that this breakthrough was made during the UN-year of biological versatility: "Although other wine countries also enforce sustainability methods, South Africa is the first and currently only country that can show a credible certification in the whole region". (red.yoopress)