Whether you’re supplying or receiving fruit over vintage, you must ensure you keep sufficient records to satisfy the requirements of Australia’s Label Integrity Program (LIP). The LIP is essential in ensuring truthful labelling claims are made about the vintage, variety and origin of Australian wine.

Supplying

On the day of supply, you’ll need to provide an accompanying written record which includes at a minimum

• the date you’re supplying the fruit
• the quantity of fruit you’re supplying
• the vintage, variety and prescribed geographical indication (GI) of the fruit you’re supplying.

Receiving

Your own record must be made within three days of receiving the fruit and must identify:

• who made the record

• the supplier’s name and address
• the receiver’s name and address
• the date fruit is received
• the quantity of fruit received, and
• the vintage, variety and GI of the fruit.

Tips

If you’re keeping electronic records, it’s best practice to record the vineyard address, including a GI, of the fruit you supply or receive. Postal addresses and supplier details are useful for accounts, but not for verifying the origin of fruit. It’s also best practice to include a reference to any relevant manual documents supplied, such as cart and weighbridge notes.

Manual record

If you keep manual records and only source fruit from a couple of places, it’s a good idea to create a “tick-box” template on your receival documents to avoid entering the same information multiple times. And if you only receive fruit from one supplier of from your own vineyard, make a note on the front of all your record books so it’s clear which block your records apply to.

Avoid abbreviations and assume the person reading your records is NOT familiar with the GI’s or grape varieties you deal with.

For example:

• use "Cabernet Sauvignon” or “Cabernet Franc”, rather than “Cab”
• use “Pinot Blanc”, “Pinot Gris”, “Pinot Meunier” or “Pinot Noir”, rather than “Pinot”
• use "Limestone Coast” or “Langhorne Creek”, rather than “LC”
• use “South Coast” or “Shoalhaven Coast”, rather than “SC"
• If using “Murray Darling”, indicate whether the fruit is from Victoria or New South Wales

And above all, don’t forget to train your vintage crew. Sound record keeping is essential across your whole business, and everyone should know their obligations.  

Further information about the Label Integrity Program can be found here.