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Only 13,78% of all wine submitted to the Wine and Spirit Board for certification is initially rejected and when resubmissions are taken into account, final rejections amount to only 0,27% of all wine. These figures were for the period 1 November 2001 to 31 October 2002, and were supplied following a request from WineLand. The same wine may be submitted up to five times and of the 8 446 035 litres rejected the first time, only 496 600 litres were finally rejected. The Technical Committee of the Board suspects that wine submitted too soon after bottling is easily rejected. It is generally known that bottling is a drastic process which may influence the balance and composition of wine. The most important reasons for rejections are insufficient cultivar character and a thin, watery character. The Board also announced that only 5,9% of all rejections is due to corkiness/mouldy character. In the year 1 November 2001 to 31 October 2002, 185 126 561 litres of bottled wine were submitted, with 11 471 202 litres (6,19%) being rejected; 79 131 643 litres of wine for bulk export were submitted, with 12 279 510 litres (15,5%) being rejected. The most important reasons for rejection of bottled final submissions (from the initial to the final rejection) were:
WineLand approached the Board in an attempt to obtain clarity about reasons for rejections. In the process we found that one of the biggest reasons for the misconceptions about the Board is most likely inadequate communication between the Board and the wine public. With regard to representation on the Board, secretary Hugo van der Merwe made it clear that all wholesalers, co-operative wine cellars, private wine cellars, estates, the Department of Agriculture, the Agricultural Research Council, Stellenbosch University, Elsenburg and also wine consultants were entitled to nominate people to serve on the judging committees of the Board. All judges must have an acceptable wine judging qualification in order to taste for the Board. In the past judges with a CWSET certificate and Cape Wine Masters were allowed to taste, but in future new judges will have to complete the wine judging course offered by the Department of Viticulture and Oenology at Stellenbosch University. The various committees who undertake sensorial judging for the Board, are the technical committee, the central wine judging committee and the decentralised wine judging committees for Stellenbosch, Worcester, Robertson, Paarl and the Klein Karoo, each of which judges its own region's wines of origin. During a tasting session a minimum of five judges must be present to form a quorum for the tasting panel. Approval or rejection of wine, including Noble Late Harvest and other liquor products, occurs by means of majority vote. Products that have been approved are not referred to the Technical Committee for repeat judging. When a wine or liquor product is approved, but at least two of the judges indicate that they have a problem with it, and the majority of the panel members reject the wine for the same reason(s), the applicant is made aware of the specific problem. In the case of rejection (majority vote), the prescribed form is completed, indicating the reason(s) for rejection. If the majority of the members present do not agree on the reason(s) for rejection, a resubmission is automatically granted. When wine or other liquor products are rejected simply because there is corkiness/mouldy flavour or taste, a second bottle is immediately judged. If the second bottle is approved, the particular wine or liquor product is considered approved, but it is pointed out to the applicant that a second bottle had to be tasted and the reason(s) given. If the vote results in a tie, there is a discussion and the chairman must use his deciding vote. To eliminate any prejudice, wines that are judged again must be spread out and lined up among the applications for final certification. Technical Committee The Technical Committee consists of ten members, with alternatives nominated by the respective bodies represented on the Wine and Spirit Board, who are appointed by the Board. The Technical Committee has a three-fold task, namely:
The Committee consists of 38 members nominated by the wine industry. In addition, the Board appoints 12 additional members. The task of the Central Wine Judging Committee is the sensorial judgment of all classes of wine intended for certification, as well as liquor products intended for export, to determine whether they comply with the minimum quality requirements. The committee tastes all wine from outside the areas of origin covered by the Decentralised Judging Committees. A tasting panel of the Central Wine Judging Committee meets on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings. Wine or other liquor products that are rejected are automatically referred to the Technical Committee to be judged again, so as to eliminate any doubts regarding unacceptability. A tasting panel judges applications for provisional approval and liquor products intended for export, but, if necessary, may also judge applications for final certification. Charl Theron (Stellenbosch University) is the convenor. Decentralised Wine Judging Committees The Committees consist of members nominated by the specific region and appointed by the Wine and Spirit Board. The task of the Decentralised Wine Judging Committees is the sensorial judgment of all classes of wine from that region intended for certification, as well as wine intended for export, to determine whether they comply with the minimum quality requirements. The Decentralised Wine Judging Committees are:
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