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BLANKbottle wines

Published: 17 Nov 09

Less is more

The BLANKbottle initiative, started by Pieter Walser four years ago, is unusual in that wines appear without any indication of grape variety, place of origin or vintage on the bottle.

Pieter Walser creator of the BLANKbottle initiative

The idea is that with no label to go by, you have to trust your personal taste. The wines are mainly available via his website, Blankbottle.co.za, and it is here where you'll find the full story behind each of the wines by searching under its particular batch name.

You will also find educational wine tasting videos about the various wines. Meanwhile, Woolworths has recently taken exclusive listing of two of his wines, a white called Alexa (which turns out to be a 2009 Chenin Blanc Viognier blend) at R69.95 a bottle and a red called The Boss (Shiraz Zinfandel 2008) at R89.95.

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Readers Comments

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" Thanks, Pieter. When I wrote the above, I wondered why no-one in the industry had complained. Now I know why... "

Christo Volschenk

" Christo. All my wines are certified i.t.o. SA's Wine of Origin scheme and I therefore stick to (and pay) for the Wine of Origin certification. I just prefer not to mention anything on the bottle. "

Pieter H. Walser

" Is it actually allowed to market wines in SA in this way? Sounds illegal to me. A wine may not be sold on the claim that it contains a cultivar (or a blend of cultivars) without it having been certified i.t.o. SA's Wine of Origin as in fact containing the claimed content (and now for my novel interpretation of the regulations), regardless of where (place) you make this claim - on the bottle or on a website. Peter Walser doesn't claim it on the bottle, but on his website. That is (in my view) a subtle, but still a clear, contravention of the Wine of Origin regulations...If not, then the regulations should be changed, because (as they stand) they give wine estates who stick to (and pay) for the Wine of Origin certification, a cost disadvantage against Peter Walser.
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Christo Volschenk