Wine grapes grow best in poor but well-drained soils. The soil should not be prone to waterlogging and have lower nutrient retention to encourage the plant to put more effort into grape production than vegetative growth.

Growing wine grapes is suited to flat or gently rolling whenua. This is to help with the access and operation of machinery.

Wine grapes need a soil depth of at least 30cm to grow well. Their shallow root system absorbs nutrients and water in the upper soil layers.

For good wine grape growth and yields, various nutrients are required. This includes:

• Nitrogen is important for early growth and bunch and berry weight.
• Potassium is required in high amounts. Potassium levels must exceed nitrogen levels for excellent wine grape production.

It's important to test your soils before planting your crop. Many companies offer this service. This will help you understand the current fertility of your block and nutrient requirements.

Soil safe Aotearoa

In Aotearoa, wine grapes are harvested in autumn. The grape vines need cold winter temperatures below 15°C for the vines to rest, and temperatures within 20 - 26°C in summer for ideal growing and ripening conditions.

Wine grapes need an average of 700mm of rainfall per year. Too much rain can lead to decreased fruit quality and too little rain can affect the growth of plant shoots.

At harvesting, wine grapes need minimal rain to prevent the grapes swelling and rotting.

If you're thinking about growing wine grapes on your whenua, check the rainfall and rain intensity in your region. This is important while your grapes are growing and before harvesting.

See NIWA for more information.

Wine grapes are a long-term, perennial crop, meaning you will get one crop every year for the productive lifetime of the plant (25-30 years).

When planning to plant wine grapes, you will need to consider your geographic location and the variety of wine grapes suited to this location. Different varieties of wine grapes will grow better in the North and South Islands due to the soil conditions and climate.

For advice on what type of wine grape suits your whenua, talk to NZ Wine Industry Associations and Groups.

NZ Wine Industry Associations and Groups

There are six phases of the wine grape growth cycle:

1. budburst & shoot growth
2. flowering
3. fruit set
4. berry development
5. harvest
6. dormancy

You will need machinery to prepare your whenua for planting wine grapes and the associated plant support infrastructure.

Planting will be done in either spring or autumn.

Wine grapes will grow for 3-4 years before they're ready to be harvested. Harvest time will be determined by wine grape sampling and testing, as well as consideration of skin colour and other subjective measures.

Harvesting wine grapes can be done by hand or using machinery. This is dependent on the size and slope of your whenua and whether you are targeting a premium wine market.

After harvesting the grapes from the vine, they're transported to the winemaker to be processed. Each variety of wine grapes is handled differently - for white wines, the grapes will be pressed and the juice drained into vats for fermentation. For red wines, the grapes will be fermented with their skins on.

Read more about the different varieties of wine grapes and how they are handled.

After harvesting and initial pressing of your grapes, the crop goes through the usual wine-making process at the winery to become wine.

The wine will be bottled and distributed to market between 4 months and 2 years after harvest.

Wine grapes can be affected by fungal diseases and pests like aphids and thrips. You will need to consider using pest management methods, such as:

• counting the number and species of pests weekly
• monitoring crops to assess plant health
• making the environment attractive to insects that can eat pests
• targeted use of fungicides and pesticides.

New Zealand Winegrowers

New Zealand Winegrowers is the national organisation for the country’s growers and wineries. The New Zealand Winegrowers levy-funded research programme is delivered through the Bragato Research Institute. The organisation supports the New Zealand grape and wine industry to remain internationally competitive as the leading producer of premium quality wines.

Find out more about New Zealand Winegrowers and the industry with NZ Wine.

Export market

The total value of the New Zealand wine industry exports (year to May 2023) was $2.4 billion, up 25% on 2022. However, if you produce wine grapes for sale you will sell these to wineries in New Zealand. The export market for New Zealand wine will affect the demand from wineries for your grapes.

Read more about how the 2023 NZ vintage down, but wine exports up 25%.

Scale

Wine grapes can return a profit from a vineyard with a minimum size of 25 hectares unless it is run by an owner-operator with existing infrastructure. Turning a profit from growing wine grapes depends on several factors, like:

• your location - access to the market, or infrastructure, or to a winery
• your production practices - modern machinery and equipment or smaller scale efficiencies
• the market demand and access to the market
• your operational efficiencies - larger vineyards may benefit from economies of scale.

Equipment and infrastructure

There are various tools and equipment needed for growing and harvesting wine grapes. Large machinery is used for canopy management, spraying, maintenance, harvesting, and other purposes. These include:

• row tractors with attachments like vine trimmers, leaf removers, pre-pruners
• excavators
• fertiliser and compost spreaders
• rotary tillers, rotary mowers
• spray systems
• bins
• transport
• trellis
• mechanical grape harvesters
• cultivators, and
• irrigation systems (for example, drip irrigation).

It's estimated that you'll need to grow at least 25 hectares of wine grapes to offset the costs of investing in machinery and equipment. Contractors could be used to provide some of these services if you are farming on a smaller scale. Often vineyards are contracted to a winery that manages the crop on behalf of the owner, reducing the need for machinery and management input, and allowing significantly smaller operations.  

After harvesting your crop into bins, you'll need to get them to a winery quickly (within 24 hours). If your grapes are traveling far, you will require refrigerated transport. All grapes need to be kept around 2 °C to keep them fresh because mould and other issues begin to develop if your grapes sit in a warm place too long.

Read more about purchasing and handling grapes.

Jobs and people

Your people and labour requirements are seasonal, based on key milestones, like planting and harvesting. Manual harvesting and mechanical harvesting are both options to remove the grapes from the vine. Manual harvesting tends to be limited to small vineyards and premium wines justifying the high cost of labour.

You'll need a mixture of unskilled labour, as well as specialists. The specialists will help you with:

• viticulture expertise to ensure that the grape variety and its growing conditions will produce grapes that match winemaker's demands
• managing the crop cycle,
• pest management techniques,
• harvesting and,
• post-harvest management.

The peak demand for labour and specialists by vineyards is during planting and harvesting times.

Case study - Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc Vineyard

Here is an example of a Sauvignon Blanc vineyard in Marlborough, let's imagine it had 25 hectares of wine grapes grown last year.

It yielded 315 tonnes of wine grapes, bringing in a revenue of $600,000.

It had $350,000 in expenses, and the farm made a profit of $250,000.

It took 3 years until the first harvest and full potential was reached after 4 years. It took 180 days for the grapes to reach full ripening after they formed (time to commercial yield).

Operational costs

The estimated operational costs to grow wine grapes are around $18,000 per hectare per year. This depends on factors, like:

• scale of the operation
• level of mechanisation
• specific farming practices
• regional and locational factors
• market conditions.

Labour costs can be significant, especially when you're first setting up your vineyard and during the harvest. Some other examples of costs that you'll need to consider are:

• grape vines
• fertilisers
• pesticides and herbicides
• agrochemicals
• skilled and unskilled labour
• fuel and transport
• permits, licenses, or certifications
• compliance with regulations and food safety standards.

Costs

There are some costs you will need to consider, and these will change with the amount produced. Here are some examples:

Yield (and time to profit)

It typically takes several years to establish a sustainable and profitable operation.

Maximising the amount of good quality wine grapes grown will increase the profits you earn. Factors that can contribute to higher grape yields include:

• crop management
• variety selection (Sauvignon Blanc grape yields are more than two times higher than for Pinot Noir grapes).
• planting density
• nutrient management
• weed control
• harvesting at the right time.

Tupu - Wine Grape factsheet

Revenue

Returns from growing wine grapes are influenced by a variety of factors, including:

• market conditions (trends will dictate demand and price)
• grape variety (The five year average from 2018-2022 for Sauvignon Blanc grapes from Marlborough was $1985/tonne and in 2023 they fetched $2415/tonne).
• the reputation of your vineyard-there are more large vineyards in the market that make wine from their grapes. This means it is competitive to act as a contract grower for wineries because the large wineries have less demand for buying grapes
• yield (Sauvignon Blanc vines produce more than two times as much fruit as Pinot Noir vines)
• quality of your fruit is key
• production costs
• pricing strategies
• events beyond your control, for example, weather conditions or market fluctuations.

Things we can do to create better returns include:

• efficient practices to maximise yield and production.
• create market demand and premium pricing
• quality and grading
• cost management
• storage and post-harvest handling
• invest profits into mechanisation to combat rising labour expenses
• value-added opportunities

To help you make informed decisions and maximise returns, it's important for you to:

• stay informed about market trends through research.
• maintain good relationships with buyers.
• regularly assess your vineyard's production and financial performance through tracking costs.

Operating profit

To estimate your operating profit, you'll need to look at the amount of money generated from selling your grapes, minus your production costs. Some factors may affect your revenue and influence your vineyard's operating profit. These include:

• vineyard size
• yield - the quantity of grapes sold
• market conditions and fluctuations
• production costs and efficient viticulture practices
• pricing strategies
• weather conditions.

You will need to consider your production costs, which can include:

• labour
• vine costs
• fertilisers
• irrigation
• pest and disease management
• machinery maintenance
• storage
• packaging
• marketing costs.

These costs can be affected by having efficient viticulture practices and effective cost management.

Each vineyard will have factors specific to it and different market dynamics. Keeping accurate records of your production and financial records can help you see where improvements could be made and increase your operating profit.

You must register your vineyard and pay a levy to New Zealand Winegrowers if you sell your wine grapes. This goes towards industry-wide maintenance and development activities.

To find out more visit the New Zealand Wine hub

All vineyards owned by New Zealand Winegrowers members are required to have an annual biosecurity vineyard registration completed each year (by the 30th of June). Entering vineyard details in the register and updating them each year ensures that if a new vineyard pest or disease arrives in New Zealand, the New Zealand Winegrowers biosecurity team can contact all growers in the at-risk area as soon as possible. Growers will also be included in communications and informed of any progress if a biosecurity response occurs.

NZ Wine - Register

You will be asked if you have a biosecurity plan in place. Biosecurity plan templates can be found on the New Zealand Winegrowers website, or you can contact the New Zealand Winegrowers biosecurity team and get a hard copy sent to you. New Zealand Winegrowers strongly recommends all vineyards have a biosecurity plan in place to mitigate the risks posed by new pests and diseases.

The other compulsory question regards organic certification or if the vineyard is in conversion to an organic vineyard. If you select NO, you can move on. If you choose YES you need to enter the hectares that are Certified Organic and the amount Registered In Conversion to Organic.

You must comply with National Programme 1 requirements under the Food Act 2014. This includes:

• following safe food practices, like checking for pests and using clean water
• registering your business with either your local council or MPI
• getting your business verified.

Learn more about National Programme 1.

You will need a freshwater farm plan, either now or by 2025 if your whenua will have:

• 20 hectares or more of arable and/or pastoral use, or
• 5 hectares or more of horticultural use, or
• 20 hectares or more of combined uses.

These plans identify actions to manage and mitigate risks of on-farm activity to freshwater. They must be certified and audited, then recertified every 5 years.

Learn more about freshwater farm plans.

There are additional certifications and registrations that may make your onions more appealing to buyers.

You can choose to get certified with New Zealand Good Agricultural Practice (NZGAP) for a yearly fee. Some retailers and wholesalers only take crops from an NZGAP-certified supply channel.

Learn more about NZGAP.

Producing wine grapes organically is another to command premium prices for your grapes. BioGro has been certifying New Zealand Organic Winegrowers for over 25 years.

BioGro

Those wineries that carry certification for sustainable winegrowing are audited annually on the use and conservation of water, reduction in waste and wastewater, and implementation of energy efficiency programs, including the use of sustainable power sources. They also show an interest in preserving local vineyards for generations to come. To become certified, prospects must first self-assess their operations and provide supporting documentation for their responses. Additionally, there is a requirement to supply data for water and input use (electricity, fuel, pesticide/fungicide spray).

Certification is still voluntary, however, since 2010, the New Zealand Winegrowers, the body responsible for promoting the brand New Zealand Wines, made vineyard and wine accreditation to the SWNZ (or one of the recognized organic or biodynamic certifications) a pre-requisite to participation in promotional events.

Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand

Sustainable Vinyard application form