South African Wine - Important Organisations

Important Organisations

The South African wine industry has been led by many powerful organisations in both the private sector and through governmental agencies. Unlike other New World wine regions, the South African wine industry is largely influenced by several large co-operatives. The Koöperatieve Wijnbouwers Vereniging van Zuid-Afrika Bpkt (KWV) was a co-operative first created through the funding and encouragement of the South African government as a force to stabilise and grow the South African wine industry. As the KWV is now a privately owned winemaking co-operative some of its regulatory responsibilities have fallen to other organisations such as the South African Wine & Spirit Board. The Wine & Spirit Board runs the voluntary certification program that allows South African wines to be "certified" for quality and accuracy in labelling. In addition to submitted to various labelling guidelines, wines are blind tasted by a panel of experts for quality and are put through an analytical test for faults. Like the vintage and varietal labelling guidelines, these test are voluntary but wines that do not submit to testing are liable to random testing for health requirements.

The Wine & Spirits board also operates the South African Wine Industry Trust (SAWIT) and provides funding for the marketing and development of SAWIT. Established in 1999 by a joint agreement between the South African government and the KWV, which put forth 369 million rand ($46 million US$), SAWIT works to promote the export market of South African wines abroad and the development of new technologies and education. Additionally SAWIT works with the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) program to promote the black community's involvement in the South African wine industry-including ownership opportunities for vineyards and wineries.