The Australian Wine Research Institute

Guidelines for agrochemical registrants 

This page provides information on the data agrochemical companies are advised to provide in order for new active constituents to be considered for inclusion in the AWRI’s Agrochemicals registered for use in Australian viticulture (the ‘Dog book’) as recommended for use on grapes destined for export wine. The required data includes residue data for both grapes and wine, as well as reports on fermentation and wine quality studies completed in the same vintage.

Trial details

Locations

• Data from a minimum of SIX sites must be provided, covering a range of climates (cool to hot).
• It is preferred that results come from studies undertaken on Australian sites, but a combination of Australian and overseas data is acceptable.
• A climatic classification of some Australian regions are provided as examples:
  • Cool: Tasmania, Mornington Peninsula, Yarra Valley, Great Southern
  • Warm: Barossa, McLaren Vale, Pyrenees
  • Hot: Riverland, Hunter Valley, Swan Valley, Rutherglen

Varieties

• It is preferred that trials are undertaken on grape varieties that are common to the region where the trial is held. The variety of the grapes does not matter for residue testing, but the grapes must come from a wine-grape variety (table grapes are not acceptable).
• It is recommended that one of the six sites represents grapes destined for sparkling wine that are harvested at a lower ripeness (16–19.5°Brix).

Treatments

• At each of the SIX test sites there must be a CONTROL (untreated) and a STANDARD LABEL treatment, where the active(s) is applied at the planned label rate for the maximum number of allowable applications per season. The final application must be applied at the withholding period (WHP) that the registrant feels will yield the appropriate residues to satisfy export markets that do not have a maximum residue limit (MRL). In most cases, this will be a non-detectable residue in resulting wine. This timing will most likely be the same as the label WHP or earlier.
  • Where the registrant wants to investigate the residue levels at different withholding periods, additional treatments will need to be applied and tested for residues.
• At TWO of the SIX test sites, there must be an additional DOUBLE-LABEL treatment, where the active(s) is applied at double the planned label rate each time, for the maximum number of allowable applications per season. Samples from these sites should be red grape varieties, as this ensures the best quality results from the study.
  • This treatment should provide samples containing higher levels of residues than typically expected. This study is used to confirm that at higher residue levels there will be no effect on wine quality.

Residue Analysis

Control and treated samples from all SIX sites should be submitted for processing studies involving residue analysis of both grapes and wine.

This is to provide wineries data about:

• a WHP that results in no quantifiable residue in wine
• degradation of the active constituent through the winemaking process (processing factor) where residues are detected in grapes.

Notes:

1. Some regulatory authorities may require residue data on samples of juice and pomace (recycled for animal feed). Consideration may need to be given to the inclusion of these commodities when establishing the study protocol.
2. For non-synthetic active ingredients, residue analysis is not suggested to be undertaken.

 

Fermentation and wine quality studies

• Fermentation and wine quality studies are to be performed independently of residue studies, to provide the wine industry with the knowledge and assurance that the active constituent or product is not going to have a detrimental effect on fermentation or wine quality. Such an effect could include the formation of off-flavours or aromas due to the breakdown of the active constituent itself.
• The winemaking protocol followed for these studies should reflect that of processing red varieties into wine, considered the worse-case-scenario for residues due to the skin contact employed in the process. This technique is not suitable for white grape varieties and tends to make wines which are quite unpalatable and not suitable for the sensory component of the study. Hence, it is strongly recommended that these studies are conducted with red wine-grape varieties.
• Sample requirements
  1. Samples should be collected from trial sites 1 and 2 (where 2 x label rate applications have been applied), with grapes from trial site 2 frozen and stored by the registrant as a back-up for trial site 1.
  2. A minimum of 25 kg of grapes must be harvested for each of the control, single label treatment and double label treatment.
  3. If no detectable residues are present in the samples, the fermentation and wine quality study can still proceed based on the possibility that the active constituent may have been converted to a secondary metabolite or broken down to another compound which may affect fermentation or wine quality.
  4. Fruit condition must be sound as wine made from spoiled, mouldy or unripe fruit will not be suitable for a fermentation or wine quality assessment
  5. Grapes should be harvested at commercial quality or ripeness (21–26°Brix) and it is recommended that a °Brix reading be taken prior to harvest. Ideally, the fruit should be at a similar level of maturity (based on °Brix) across the different treatments. It is strongly advised that samples be frozen as soon as possible after harvest, as these studies rely heavily on good fruit quality to ensure the best outcome.
• AWRI’s commercial arm, Affinity Labs, offers fermentation and wine quality studies as a service. Companies intending to undertake a fermentation and wine quality study with a service provider other than Affinity Labs, are advised to contact AWRI prior to commencing the trial to discuss the protocol to ensure the study is sufficiently comprehensive and its conclusions can be relied upon.
• Fermentation and wine quality studies are required for both synthetic and non-synthetic active ingredients/products.

Summary of trial sites and minimum required analysis

The following table summarises the minimum sample and analysis requirements to be provided to AWRI for review.

Trial site	Wine grape variety	Trial setup			Residue analysisa		Fermentation study	Wine quality study
		Control	Single label rate treatment	Double label rate treatment	Grapes	Wine
1	Red	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
2	Red	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Backup onlyb	Backup onlyb
3	Red/White	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
4	Red/White	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
5	Red/White	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
6	Red/White	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No

^aResidue analysis is not required if active ingredients are non-synthetic in nature

^bIt is highly recommended that the volume of grapes identified in the ‘fermentation and wine quality studies’ section above be collected by the registrant from trial site 2 and frozen as a backup for the fermentation and wine quality studies to be undertaken on grapes from trial site 1, in case these prove to be unusable  

 

Last updated 4 August 2026