The mandarins in the SA Department of Agriculture have given a big green thumbs up to Guy Kebble’s Surepure ultraviolet wine purification system. I spoke to Guy about his system a couple of years ago.

After a flood of enquiries into low sulphur wines from readers, we spoke to Guy Kebble, CEO of Surepure, who have launched a system which almost totally eradicates the need for sulphur in wine.

Q: What is the story behind sulphur?

A: Sulphur has always been an integral part of the wine-making process. It prevents oxidation of wine and fights potentially spoiling microbes, some of which release enzymes that cause oxidation. Unfortunately, many consumers suffer from sulphur-intolerance and many people avoid wine altogether because of the sulphur levels in the liquid, which could be as high as 200 parts per million. Our system has, however, made it possible for wine to be bottled with no added sulphur or at substantially lower sulphur levels of between 20 and 50 parts per million. This technology, whereby the wine is literally “purified” through a cold Ultra Violet process, is seen as a major breakthrough for the South African wine industry. We are currently conducting product development exercises with many top wine producers, including Steenberg, L’Ormarins, Alluvia and Stellar Organics, who deem the prevalence of sulphur a deterrent for many consumers.

Q: Does your system replace the need to sterile filter wines?

A: Yes it does replace the need to sterile filter as it inactivates all spoiling micro-organisms. Whilst Sterile filtration is an effective purifier of wines, it can strip the flavour profile, reduce aroma and affect palate weight. Besides limiting the need for sulphur, our process also eradicates brettanomyces, a spoilage yeast that could possibly find its way into the winery and which has become a problem for some red wine producers.

Q: How does your system work?

A: Surepure is an internationally patented cold-purification system that removes harmful microbes from liquids through transmitting UV-C energy directly to microbial DNA found within the liquids. This kills harmful micro-organisms by damaging their DNA, disabling their growth and with no residual effect. The system is also used on, inter alia, milk and fruit juice to remove the need for pasteurisation and added preservatives respectively, whilst rendering the products safe for consumption. It has a proven ability to almost totally eradicate the need for sulphur during the winemaking process has created tremendous interest within the wine-making community in the technology. You can call it revolutionary. A new generation of lower sulphur wines is without the international wine industry’s reach.

Q: When will the first low sulphur wines be available?

A: Steenberg and L’Ormarins were the first estates to produce no-added sulphur wines , sadly this has been done in relatively small batches, so the public will have to look out for the 2009 crop to be able to experience SurePure sulphur free wine. We will of course through our website (www.surepure.net) and in conjunction with the wine producers be informing the public as to which brands are sulphur free.