The California Department of Food & Agriculture has announced it has certified the votes on the referendum to continue the Sonoma County Winegrape Commission, also known as the Sonoma County Winegrowers (SCW), for another five years.  Garnering 85.77% percent of the vote, winegrape growers strongly supported continuation of the organization.  The Commission was established in 2006 and is required by California law to conduct a grower vote every five years to determine if they want to continue to be assessed to fund the organization.    “It is very gratifying to see the efforts of the Commission recognized and supported by the very people who fund it and make all the great work possible,” said Bret Munselle, chairman of the SCW board of directors and owner of Munselle Vineyards.  He added, “Through the assessment, the growers have been personally investing in promoting Sonoma County for nearly 20 years and with this vote, SCW will continue

Last night while I was sleeping, my heart beat 38,400 times. I didn’t ask it to keep beating through my slumber, nor did I thank it when I awoke. I just took my heartbeat, and my life, for granted. Shame on me. We do the same with wine. Sure, we enjoy the aroma, bouquet and taste. But we rarely reflect that this magical elixir is a natural farm product…a land preserver…a reflection of place and time…an artistic statement…a liquid food…a Biblical focus…a poetic inspiration…a cultural phenomenon…an economic engine…a noble beverage with humble roots which brings people together around the world. Wine is magic. So why don’t we tell people? Natural magic It’s easy to fret about the future of wine. Boomers are aging, younger generations are opting out, spirits are innovating and there are increasing warnings about the dangers of alcohol.  It’s deja vu all over again. We’ve been here before, and

Sonoma County, CA, Dec. 14, 2023 – Lumo, a Smart Agtech company that supports growers and tackles water challenges head-on, is proud to announce a trial of its state-of-the-art irrigation technology with Treasury Americas, a division of the global premium and luxury wine company, Treasury Wine Estates (TWE), in Napa.  Lumo aims to help growers revolutionize the way they manage water in their vineyards, empowering them to automate and closely monitor irrigation activities. Currently, 24 of Lumo’s smart irrigation valves are being utilized by TWE, allowing the company to efficiently manage irrigation on 90 acres of Napa vineyard land and setting an industry example for sustainable viticulture practices. The trial with TWE should provide concrete evidence of how Lumo’s advanced water technology can help to improve operational efficiencies while aiding in substantial water conservation. “Efficient irrigation is paramount in bridging the gap between water u

In 1983, the Sonoma County wine growing regions of Carneros, Chalk Hill, Dry Creek Valley, Knights Valley, and Russian River Valley/Green Valley all received designation as official American Viticultural Areas. 40 years later, we’d like to celebrate this significant anniversary. The Sonoma County Wine Library Association invites you to hear the details about these distinctive AVAs during a panel discussion with reps from each region (featured below). Karissa Kruse, President of the Sonoma County Winegrowers organization will be our moderator. We’ll start the event with a tasting featuring the wines from each AVA You can bid on wine lots featuring the AVA wines and winery experiences The event will be held in the attractive setting of Balletto Vineyards Reserve Room An appetizer platter will be offered This will be our final event of 2023, so we hope to see you for this fantastic afternoon! Sunday, November 12, 3:00 to 5:00 PM $35 for members, $50 for non-memb

Make your content visual. Use 3-D Fly-through video to provide a Drone tour of your property and illustrate your unique story like never before. We use Google Earth 3-D model of the world as a base, then add personalized mapping with GIS, logos, pictures, text, and narration. You can even watch a sunset. We deliver a movie format file for use on a web page, smartphones, kiosk, PowerPoint presentations, staff training, and education, posting to Linkedin, Facebook, blogs and other social media. We do not use a template – our designs are custom fit to message and content and complete image. We can also provide a virtual fly-through in an AutoCAD® environment to show how grading plans, new farming conversions, and future facilities will appear. Example Layers of information to Add: Soil type and underlying geology Slopes and related vineyard development acreage (per regulation/request) Wine appellation (aka American Viticultural Areas) Aspect –the direction slope

Afternoon Brief, April 19th

For Some Pacific Northwest Winemakers, AVA Wine Labels Are a Challenge: The number of bonded wineries in the United States has increased exponentially over the last four decades. With that growth has come a dramatic rise in designated American Viticultural Areas (AVAs), or appellations of origin, followed by smaller sub-AVAs to differentiate diverse grape-growing regions within them...

Process2Wine's interactive mapping and reporting system is easy to use, and underneath that ease of use is the power of a complete system that spans every part of a winery’s business, from vineyard management to wine production. Its web and mobile apps are intuitive and efficient, letting you track your work and access technical data from your computer, tablet or smartphone. 1. Intuitive harvest planning with Process2Wine mapping Veraison check using  Process2Wine’s on the-go mobile version.   The human brain can process entire images in the blink of an eye, much more quickly than reading text or numbers. That’s part of what makes Process2Wine more effective than any other grape-growing or winemaking software. Developed by wine industry experts with decades of practical experience, the interactive mapping system provides winemakers with a clear picture of essential information from the vineyard.  A quick scan of the real-time vineyard maps give