SAWi was born in 2007 as an attempt to bring consumer clarification to all the wine competitions, accolades and voices out there laboring to determine the quality of a wine. SAWi in an attempt to normalize the inherent subjectivity of wine scoring and more importantly simplify it for the average consumer, SAWi realized that what was needed were not just another voice, but rather to tell the world what all the voices had been saying all along about a wine.
Consequently SAWi developed an algorithm that considers and aggregate all credible and blind-tasted wine awards for a wine over a period of three years into a single SAWi Index score out of a 100.
Therefore when any given wine is assigned a SAWi Index score of, say 95, a consumer now can know that it is not the single voice at a particular moment of time, but the collective wisdom of the wine industry’s leading voices over a period of time.
Consumers are generally not exposed to results of wine competitions per se and the search for a results book is labour some. Not all wine has bottle stickers to guide us in some way either. Having info at our fingertips, wherever we are makes wine choices much easier.
With more than 750 South African wine cellars vying for space in the glasses of those who love and appreciate the noble descendant of the grape, choosing a good wine can be a daunting task.
What then is the scene that we as consumers need to face? The time has come for us to get well informed about wine, to develop self knowledge and in a simple way be able to make a more informed choice. Won't we all like to be known a little better for our wine "sawi"?
The purpose of this wine rating system is to take South African wine quality ratings to a new level, considering more than just a mere once-off tasting result, through the introduction of a uniquely designed index system in which the wine enthusiast can view achievements of any particular wine.