Feb 25, 2020

An innovative guarantee stamp for Côtes du Rhône AOCs wines

Beyond authenticating the wine, the Côtes du Rhône guarantee stamp goes much further by ‘speaking’ to the consumer. It can be used for AOC Côtes du Rhône, Côtes du Rhône Villages and Crus.

Cotes du Rhone — The Côtes du Rhône guarantee stamp goes much further by ‘speaking’ to the consumer.

The Côtes du Rhône guarantee stamp originated from the will of the President of the General Union of Vintners, Philippe Pellaton, to protect the Côtes du Rhône AOCs against infringement. The idea was to find a simple, effective and inexpensive anti-counterfeiting device. The tender was awarded to the tesa scribos company, with its ‘four-level security guarantee stamp’, which has already been tested in other wine regions as well as for automotive spare parts, for example.

Each stamp is indeed unique

Each stamp is indeed unique, allowing authentication of each bottle. The stamp is also tear-proof and tamper-proof. It contains a QR code which, once scanned with a smartphone, shows a number that must be identical to that written on the stamp. Otherwise, the consumer is invited to send an alert to the producer, with a photo of the bottle, for example. Other security guarantees are also present, some invisible to the naked eye.

But the Côtes du Rhône guarantee stamp goes much further, as it allows communication with the consumer

Consumers can easily interact with the winemakers.

Indeed, after having authenticated the wine, the latter can click on various information buttons: product sheet, company website, Côtes du Rhône website, local distributor, contests, calorie info, environmental policy, etc. It can even send a message directly to the producer. On its stamp management platform, the producer can geolocate the scans very precisely anywhere in the world, allowing monitoring of the physical locations of the bottles.

Philipe Pellaton — Philippe Pellaton President of Maison Sinnae and of the Union of Côtes du Rhône Winegrowers

The stamp is operational; it can be used for AOC Côtes du Rhône, Côtes du Rhône Villages and Crus des Côtes du Rhône. A number of houses (Maison Sinnae, Domaine Denis Alary, Union Rhonéa) have already introduced it on some of their vintages or will soon do so.