South African look to water down wines

The practice of adding water to grape must, banned throughout Europe, could become legal in South Africa if proposals are given the go ahead by the South African government. The proposal has been passed by South Africa's Wine and Spirit Board and could become law by the end of 2011. Producers say the aim is to improved quality not increase volume as well as meet a growing trend for lower alcohol wines.

If it goes ahead the wines would be illegal in Europe and according to the UK Wine and Spirit Trade Association it's highly unlikely that EU laws will change. Current EU laws permit the reduction of alcohol levels by up to 2% using spinning cone and reverse osmosis technology.