Grape growing is certainly a bit of art and science… with a healthy dose of crapshoot thrown in by Mother Nature. Because we’re looking at a later harvest this year, growers who are in more marginal (cooler or higher-elevation) sites need to be on top of their game. One of our growers, Konrad Vineyard on Mt. Veeder, uses a heavy dose of technology in the vineyard to help them make irrigation decisions – too much water and the canopy gets too large and you run the risk of under-ripe fruit (green flavors, high acid and rough tannins)… too little water and your vine doesn’t produce anything at all. Konrad uses a mesh of sensors to identify the moisture profile in the soil. Here is an example of what they look at.
Soil Moisture Content at Konrad Vineyards
By monitoring the soil moisture all across the vineyard, they can make more precise irrigation decisions instead of blanket decisions that work for some parts but not other parts of the vineyard. The goal is to grow stuff like this:
Small Cabernet Sauvignon Berries
Grape growing is sometimes a game of inches – a whole bunch of small decisions lead into the difference between a good and a great year. While there are many other decisions that need to be made, irrigation is an important one and certainly one where technology can make a difference.
