New wine seal tracks production integrity

South Africa has ‘uncorked’ another
wine industry first with the world’s
first sustainability seal as a guarantee
of eco-friendly production.
Other countries are introducing
similar initiatives on a limited scale
but South Africa is the only country
to have the means to implement and
certify the concept across the entire
wine industry.
Issued by the Wine and Spirit
Board, each seal, intended for bottled
wines only, carries a unique number
through which the wine’s provenance
can be tracked from vine to bottle to
confirm the integrity of production.
Effective from this year, the
voluntary system is available to those
wineries passing the accreditation of
the Integrated Production of Wine
(IPW) set of principles at farm, winery
and bottling levels covering a whole
range of issues such as integrated pest
management, the health of workers
and the reduction of greenhouse gas
emissions.
“Linked to the existing Wine of
Origin system that already guarantees
the source of the grapes, their varietal
and vintage, the sustainability seal
gives a further guarantee of production
integrity and sustainability,” says
Wosa CEO, Su Birch.