“The last time SA wine stood together was on the ship taking the boere to exile in St. Helena” said Mr. Pinotage, Beyers Truter. And he was not wrong. Earlier this year PIWOSA was launched.

Premium Independent Wineries of South Africa (PIWOSA) is a collective of like minded, premium, independent wine producers from across the diverse wine regions of South Africa’s Western Cape. Formed in January 2013 with the endorsement of industry bodies Wines of South Africa, WIETA and IPW, we have come together through a combined ambition and desire to promote premium South African wines internationally. As a united force we aim, over time, to open up the World to premium South African wine consumption and to bring the spotlight very much onto the flourishing premium facet of the South African category.

Today Cape Vintner Classification (CVC)  was launched at Ellerman House, venue for Cape Town’s second Wine Gallery which follows in the footsteps of the Pendock Wine Gallery @ Taj. Fin24 reports “a number of leading Cape wine producers, including [Johann] Rupert, launched the CVC as an independent association with the aim to build South Africa’s reputation as a producer of world-class wines and to promote the Cape’s distinctive site specific wines.” Although Johann is unlikely to be best pleased when Fin24 can’t even spell the name of his winery correctly, calling it L’Omarins (sic).

Paul Cluver is a member of both associations, so presumably CVC ticks some boxes PIWOSA leaves unchecked. Alas, for consumers (above) drowning in alphabet soup, its all academic. But lets hope it leads to more sales of premium SA wine.