The Saint-Emilion Wine Council security label

Stronger together: The Saint-Emilion Wine Council takes stock of the tesa scribos security solution. After being introduced in a 2015 pilot phase only for the “Saint-Emilion appellation”, the system is now also available for all of the Puisseguin Saint-Emilion and Lussac Saint-Emilion wines.

The Saint-Emilion Wine Council announces the continuation of the Saint-Emilion security label. The programme, launched in 2015, was initially reserved for the Saint-Emilion designation and has now extended its availability to all the wines under the Saint-Emilion Wine Council. The solutions will also be shown at the 20th edition of Vinitech Sifel, 28 November to 1 December 2016, at the Parc des Expositions, Bordeaux-Lac, HALL 1 D 2502.

Since bringing together the Saint-Emilion, Lussac Saint-Emilion and Puisseguin Saint-Emilion associations in 2007, the Saint-Emilion Wine Council is now France’s oldest viticultural association and continues evolving, constantly reinforced with new members. Aside from promoting the Saint-Emilion designations and completing missions confided by the State, the Saint-Emilion Wine Council is active in the AOC (Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée). Its role consists of making a large palette of advice and services available to its members in all areas concerning the production cycle: wine sector regulation, oenology, viticulture, training and brand protection.

 “Thanks to our self-developed technology, each security label is unique and very simple to verify. With the tesa connect & check platform you can check the authenticity of the bottles online.” explained Damien Guille, Regional Sales Manager for SWEU at tesa scribos. “All you need to do is scan the QR code with a smartphone and enter the security code present on the bottle. If the code is valid and confirmed by the consumer, the latter is automatically switched over to the product details provided by the estate on the Saint-Emilion Wine Council website (or that of the winemaker)”.

On these websites, the participating growers can also simply and with full confidentiality provide information on the traceability of each lot well in advance. This allows them to establish the link between the lot and the scanned bottle. Furthermore, they can find statistics on the number of scans, the cities and countries where consumers, customs agents, distributors, etc. have verified their bottles. Like this they are able to collect detailed market intelligence data.

For even greater comfort and simplicity, the Saint-Emilion Wine Council extranet offers growers the option of completing all of the reporting formalities online on the extranet. Among other things, the tool allows them to stay informed in real time and to access a document base.

The advantages

Participation in the programme is voluntary. While the security labels were initially reserved for the Saint-Emilion Grand Cru wines, they are now available to all wines bearing the Saint-Emilion designation.

The Saint-Emilion security label is a reliable and easy-to-implement system for traceability and anti-counterfeiting that has been adopted by many members, allowing them to

• reassure consumers;

• help protect and strengthen the image of the Saint-Emilion wines,

• augment sales in France and abroad;

• enable traceability and simplify the work of distributors and security services such as customs agents in ensuring the products’ authenticity; and

• reduce lost turnover associated with missed profits and brand image damage caused by counterfeit products in circulation.

Communicate to inform and ensure the success of an anti-counterfeiting campaign

The Saint-Emilion Wine Council has set up some powerful marketing tools, including a very effective online video presentation (opens in a new window or tab) aimed at producers, distributors and security services.

The security labels have also been presented to and unanimously approved by Chinese authorities and distributors in December 2015.

“The close collaboration with the tesa scribos team has allowed us to implement a solution adapted to the size of our family operations (averaging 8 hectares). We chose a security solution that can be used by all of our growers, without any operational constraints. The solution is very flexible, both from the viewpoint of implementation and the advice and participation of the growers, who benefit from personalised advice from our teams and those of tesa scribos. Thanks to the low minimum quantity orders, the solution allows all growers to enjoy the same advantages and thus to mutually make use of a high-level security and traceability solution”, said Frank Binard, Director of the Saint-Emilion Wine Council.