South Africa Wine Research Projects

3. OENOLOGY RESEARCH PROJECT IN PROGRESS

AUTHENTICITY OF SOUTH AFRICAN WINES

P04000322 Dr Francois van Jaarsveld, ARC Infruitec-Nietvoorbij, Stellenbosch Project is co-funded by the ARC Infruitec-Nietvoorbij

Start date: 2023 Flagship Project

AIM AND INDUSTRY RELEVANCE: Wine is often adulterated, and sending samples for analysis to international laboratories can be expensive. Therefore, optimising locally available instrumentation, laboratories, and capacity for local authentication of South African wines is important. This would allow wineries to save on the costs of outsourcing analysis internationally. However, each laboratory faces its own resource challenges, sample preparation methods, and analytical protocols. Additionally, geo-climatological factors can influence analytical fingerprints, and South Africa has many unique terroirs that may affect the results. Currently, international countries do not have representative databases for all regions in South Africa and rely on local producers to confirm values. This project aims to compare and evaluate different authentication techniques to determine their feasibility for authenticating South African wines. By doing so, we can eventually create a com prehensive, authoritative analytical database of authentic South African wines that accounts for all variations caused by the grape cultivar, geographic location, and vintage. We will also be able to test imported wines for authenticity.

SOUTH AFRICA WINE RESEARCH 2024

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