Danie Malan of Allesverloren, whose port has for years been a dominant feature of the local market, is if anything, delighted by the renaming of this special style of fortified wine in accordance with EU labelling regulations.

Since the beginning of 2012, no port-style wine may be called as such in the domestic market.

“I have always considered what we make here a unique product and could see no reason why it should have, through the name, an association with a product from another country.

“At Allesverloren we have made this wine for more than 60 years and I believe we can be justly proud of it.  It’s not only rated highly in South Africa, where it is regularly awarded four and a half stars in the Platter’s South African Wine Guide, but its popularity overseas continues to climb.”

Allesverloren Port is now sold in South Africa under the name Allesverloren Fine Old Vintage. “We introduced the new name in the local market back in December when we ran out of the old labels.  To date we have seen no negative response by consumers to the change – sales have continued to soar.

“The name change means we are actually bringing the local name in line with the one we have been using in overseas markets since the late 1970s. There the name Allesverloren Fine Old Vintage has become well established over the years and we are sure it will also find wide acceptance, and quite quickly, in the local market. We will not be using any of the approved descriptives Cape Ruby, Cape Tawny and Cape Vintage on the label as we have found consumers look for the name Allesverloren and the distinctive bottle in which it is sold.”

Danie said having a single label for the export and the local market also had practical benefits as stock could be moved around much more easily.

His main export markets are historically the Scandinavian countries but he is also very excited about the potential of new markets in Africa where he believes there are dynamic growth prospects.