A European Union trade pact that dictates that the name “port” may only apply to fortified wines from Portugal will mean that the word will disappear entirely from bottle labels in this country by the beginning of January next year. The move has been on the cards since 2000, when the South African government agreed to stop using it.

Thus spake Carel Nel, president of the South African Port Producers’ Association:

From January 1, 2012, we won’t be allowed to use the name ‘port’ on the labels. But everything that has been bottled before next year can sell. We are not happy with it, but what can we do? We only produce 200 000 to 300 000 cases a year, against more than 10 million cases in Portugal.

South Africa has been very good at growing and crushing grapes, and producing top quality liquids for a long time.

The port industry has been producing said liquid since the early 19th century in the vicinity of the Western Cape, but specifically around the more famous Calitzdorp region.

The Mediterranean summers and relatively frigid winters have served the growth of the Portuguese varietals exceptionally well.

Carel’s cousin, Boets Nel, owner and winemaker at De Krans, added that:

The soils here are similar to the ones found in the Douro valley, in Portugal. We can really compete in the terms of quality with the best of Portugal.

The South African government agreed to stop using the word port, as well as “sherry”, in 2000, and the ban has already been in place on exports since 2002, which make up less than 15 percent of total sales.

The ban will now apply to all local sales, and you can expect to see more words like “Ruby”, “Tawny” and “Vintage” being used to describe the types of wines that the EU has recognised as geographically exclusive names to South Africa. They will however more than likely follow the prefix “Cape”.

Another producer, Peter Bayly, had an interesting take on the matter:

What I heard is that the Portuguese said they would let us use the name if we gave them fishing rights [within South African waters]. And the South African government did not agree.

Supposedly, local wine growers expected to be eased through the process with a R150 million injection from the Europeans. But apparently the South African government did not ratify a later agreement, and nothing has reached the local vineyards.

Carel Nel, who is also winemaker at Boplaas, believes our ports are about 10 times better value for money than the Portuguese varieties too:

Our ports are so good, they are some of the best in the world.

As with the word “Champagne”, it’s probably going to be a while before the word “port” disappears from South African vocabularies.

[Source: AFP via Yahoo]