Wines of South Africa Launches New Sustainability Seal and Video at Earth Day New York

NEW YORK, May 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- South Africa officially launched its new sustainability seal on wine bottles in the USA on April 21 at one of New York's most visible venues and events: Earth Day New York at Grand Central Station, a major indoor fair celebrating Earth Day and promoting environmental awareness and solutions.

The new seal is explained in an animated video, available to view and download at http://www.wosa.co.za/video_new_seal.php, or on You Tube at http://bit.ly/ecsF9D. It ran throughout the three-day event, along with video images of the beautiful South African wine lands. At the South Africa booth experts answered questions and talked about how the South African wine industry is leading the way in sustainable wine growing and production, as well as in the conservation of indigenous habitat. Along with sustainability, South Africa has powerful messages around the protection of biodiversity, integrity in labeling, traceability, and ethical trading.

From vintage 2010 South Africa's new certification seal appears on each bottle of wine that has been certified by the Wine and Spirit Board as sustainably produced. The Wine and Spirit Board can trace the wine all the way from the vineyard practices to the bottle. The seal is a guarantee that the wine has been produced in an earth-friendly manner, and audited as such, as well as a guarantee of the integrity of the origin, vintage and variety as stated on the wine label. By logging onto the website, www.swsa.co.za, consumers can type in the numbers from the seal for confirmation that the wine has complied with all criteria.

In  2010, 60% of wines qualified to carry the new seal. It is expected that 85% will comply during 2011, and by 2012 100% of exported wines from the 2012 vintage will qualify.

For more information on:

 the South African seal visit www.swsa.co.za

 the sustainability guidelines visit www.ipw.co.za

 biodiversity in the winelands visit www.varietyisinournature.com

 conservation in the winelands visit www.bwi.co.za

 ethical trading visit www.wieta.org.za

Contact:
Carole Cleaver
[email protected]

SOURCE Wines of South Africa