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Wine - Commodity suppliers for winemaking

Commodity suppliers are persons who supply commodities (grapes, fruit, vegetables or other plant material, or honey) for making into wine.

As a commodity supplier you do not require a wine standards management plan. You are required to keep and provide information about the commodities, to enable traceability of the wine. Your commodities also must be free from hazards.

Requirements for suppliers of grapes

If you supply grapes for the production of grape wine, you must ensure those grapes are free from hazards that could cause injury to human health upon consumption of the resulting wine.

In addition, you must maintain and provide information to the winemaker about your grapes, including

• source of grapes (eg grower details, location of vineyard)

• description of grapes (eg quantity, variety, vintage and area where the grapes were grown if label claims about these are to be made)

• risk factors (eg spray diary records or declaration about pre-harvest intervals for sprays, any sulphur dioxide field additions).

If you grow grapes that are intended to be made into export wine, the “Export wine grape spray schedule” will help you comply with the pesticide residue standards of overseas markets. The schedule is published annually by New Zealand Winegrowers for their members.
Contact New Zealand Winegrowers for a copy of the export wine grape spray schedule

You can also find maximum residue limits (MRLs) of pesticides in NZFSA’s MRL database. This covers a variety of markets including New Zealand.
New Zealand Food Safety Authority – Pesticide MRL database

Requirements for suppliers of commodities other than grapes

If you supply fruit, vegetables or other plant material, or honey used in the production of wine, you must ensure that they are free from hazards that could cause injury to human health upon consumption of the resulting wine.

If fruit, vegetables or other plant material, or honey are suitable for human consumption (eg they can be sold on the retail market), they are generally suitable for making into wine.

The person who purchases or receives fruit, vegetables or other plant material or honey for making into wine is required to keep records for traceability purposes. Winemakers may ask you to provide the following information about the commodities you supply to them for winemaking

• date of delivery

• grower details

• quantity and type of commodity received (actual or estimated)

• if any contamination was noted, the nature of the contamination and the steps taken to eliminate, minimise or manage that contamination.

Commodities must not exceed maximum residue limits (MRLs) for pesticides. You can find out what these limits are in NZFSA’s MRL database. It covers a variety of markets including New Zealand.
New Zealand Food Safety Authority – Pesticide MRL database

Contact for commodity enquires

wine.query@nzfsa.govt.nz

Last updated on 5 February 2008