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 With wine lovers globally looking for healthier ways to consume
their favorite tipple, research conducted by the Department of
Viticulture and Oenology at Stellenbosch University, found there
were powerful antioxidants in Rooibos and Honeybush which may help
preserve the wine naturally.
This method has the potential to eliminate the need for sulphur
dioxide and other synthetic materials and preservatives.
Journalists were recently invited to sample the new Rooibos drinks
at the Audacia wine farm in Stellenbosch.
Rooibos, a South African native tea, has been grown in the country
for centuries. In the past decade, it has become popular with
health-conscious consumers around the globe, leading to growing
production and sales.
"Roughly half the rooibos crop is exported, the rest is consumed on
the African continent of which the vast majority would be in South
Africa. South Africa being the biggest rooibos consuming country in
the world. If you look further afield Botswana has become a very
strong market for rooibos. Zimbabwe also knows the product very well
there are several brands in Zimbabwe, then if you look at what some
of the supermarket chains are doing in Africa Nigeria for instance,
rooibos typical South African brands are finding their way into
those markets as well," said Dawie De Villiers, managing director of
cape natural tea Products.
The new Rooibos wine is the brainchild of wine farm owner Trevor
Strydom who started experimenting with the process after drinking a
cup of rooibos tea served by his daughter.
He and winemaker Michael van Niekerk put rooibos teabags in wine and
found that it reduced the need for allergy-inducing sulphur and
other common preservatives.
They now use the rooibos wood chips in the wine making process
instead of the traditional oak.
"I see it being drunk all over the world, we registered the patent
in 83 jurisdictions worldwide, we are already exporting the wine to
China and it definitely will be drunk all over the world," said
Strydom.
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Rooibos and honeybush wood are unique in that they contain no
caffeine, low tannin levels making them ideal for use in wine, beer
and cider as a natural preservative and flavoring product.
"It's going to have definite effects on the global market because
the market looks at competitors and especially not having to add
sulphur ,there's a huge advantage to the process and that changes
the brand, it gives you a new brand that the health conscious world
looks at so I'm pretty certain on the back of the rooibos brand
that's already around the world you will definitely see traction,
but then even as a standalone product because its new its innovative
it's got a marketing edge and obviously if they do it cleverly they
will get market share quite quickly," said Alan Winde, minister of
economic opportunities for the Western Cape government.
The Rooibos brand is internationally patented, making it a unique
and typical South African product.
The plant is grown in the Cedarberg region of Clanwilliam and draws
hundreds of tea lovers every year to the district.
In the Western Cape roughly 167,000 people are employed in the wine
sector.
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