Santa Rosa, Calif., January 6, 2026—Lumo, the leader in precision irrigation technology for specialty crop growers, today announced a new strategic partnership with Wyatt Irrigation Supply, the most trusted leader in irrigation since 1982, to drive expansion and standardization across the vineyards of Napa and Sonoma. Winegrowers today are reeling, facing unprecedented pressure from rapidly rising labor costs and shortages, soft market demand, and increased water regulation. To survive, winegrowers must adapt and invest in ways to improve fruit quality and vineyard efficiency. Improving irrigation systems with a proven precision irrigation platform like Lumo is one of the highest return ways to improve fruit quality, while also reducing labor costs and system risks. Wyatt has seen countless automation solutions come and go over the years, making the same promises to growers over and over again. They are keenly aware of the risks and have been cautious when vetting new technologi

“We successfully automated almost every irrigation set last season,” said Andrew Oliver, Vineyard Manager at Antinori. “Lumo’s pump automation is an absolute game changer for our team,” agreed Hunter Emch, Northern Unit Area Manager at Redwood Empire Vineyard Management. REVM and Antinori are two early users of Lumo’s Pump Automation product, a powerful new integration with its smart valve platform that automates irrigation scheduling and execution from end to end. The solution has already been deployed at ranches ranging in size from 60 to 1,300 acres. Real-time, block-level flow and pressure data from Lumo smart valves is used to verify performance, dial in precision, and keep critical infrastructure safe. Over 150 ranches in Napa, Sonoma, the Central Coast, the Okanagan Valley and Washington State are already using Lumo’s precision irrigation system to close their execution gap, increase operational efficiency, and irrigate to plan. In July

We are pleased to announce the completion of the search for the Controller for our Client, Balletto Vineyards. Kevin DeMartini accepted the position from an outstanding pool of candidates that were highly qualified. Kevin has a strong background in financial roles within the wine industry including Controller role for Clos Du Val Winery, Director of Financial Planning & Analysis for TerrAscend and Vintage Wine Estates. Previously, Kevin held senior financial roles with Jackson Family Wines and Trinchero Family Estates. His unique combination of accounting knowledge and skills in winery operations are an outstanding match for Balletto Vineyards.  Kevin has a bachelor’s degree in economics with an Accounting Emphasis, from the University of California, Santa Barbara and an Executive MBA in Wine Business from Sonoma State University. His experience in winery financial roles make him well qualified to continue the success of Balletto Vineyards. Given our work on this project

At Unified, we will be displaying a few samples of our flooring a drain systems., that are extremely durable, non-skid, seamless antibacterial, decorative, and fastcure. Helping wineries thrive – meet our trusted collaborators! Family Jackson Wines-Trinchero Family Estates The Wine Group Ruiz Foods …and more! ProTec Coatings offer a complete line of concrete restoration products and services and systems such as: Polished Concrete Epoxy Flooring Systems Urethane Cements Trench epoxy coatings Slot Drains ACO 4”-6”-6-& 8” Drains Concrete staining Crack and joint repair Concrete cleaning ProTec Coatings Unified Symposium Booth: 408 ProTec Coatings is a specialty floor coating contractor. We specialize 1/4”UC Flooring systems with Epoxy, Polyespartic or MMA top coat seals any text rough or smooth & installation of stainless steel drains & ACO

More Than 220,000 Acres in California are Enrolled in FFF Program  NAPA, Calif. (November 25, 2024) – Thirty-two winegrape growers and wineries from Sonoma, Napa and Mendocino counties have been recognized with the Founders’ Award from the Fish Friendly Farming Certification program for achieving and maintaining certification for more than 20 years. In 1999, the Fish Friendly Farming Certification program was created to protect and enhance the Russian River watershed in Sonoma County. Soon, it was expanded with a specific program tailored for Napa County and other regions. Today, more than 220,000 acres located in thirteen counties in California are enrolled in the innovative program that improves water quality and wildlife habitat. “The Fish Friendly Farming certification has become very popular among winegrowers as a sustainable certification program because it is highly effective in improving water quality and restoring fish and wildlife habitat,&rd

Wine on tap programs nationwide are recognized for collectively saving more than 38 million bottles from the landfill with the use of reusable steel kegs to support their wine on tap programs.  Sonoma, CA, July 24, 2024 – Free Flow Wines has announced 7 new winners at the 11th annual KEGGY Awards, recognizing the exceptional impacts these partners have made in reducing waste from the landfill and CO2 emissions. The KEGGY Awards were created in 2014 to recognize winery partners for their commitment to sustainability by choosing reusable stainless-steel kegs – a truly zero-waste package. Each Free Flow keg holds the equivalent of 26 bottles of wine and will eliminate approximately 1,560 bottles from the landfill over its lifetime. As of today, Free Flow Wines and their partners have saved more than 38 million bottles, or 58 million pounds of waste, from the landfills and the equivalent of over 69 million pounds of CO2 from the atmosphere. Each reusable steel keg will sav

Afternoon Brief, March 29th

Omar Khan Has Pleaded Guilty to Identity Theft: Omar Khan, the bon vivant who allegedly swindled fine-wine insiders out of at least $9.5 million, pleaded guilty to identity theft on Thursday, less than one month after the FBI arrested him at John F. Kennedy International Airport...