Lumo’s hitting the road this season with our Path to Precision Tailgate Tour. There's simply no substitute for seeing a technology working in a commercial setting that’s similar to yours. You can read about a product. Watch a video. Take a sales call and ask all the right questions. But there's a moment that happens in the field–watching a valve open and close, seeing water start dripping, watching the flow rate spike on the screen in real time–that no amount of marketing can replicate. That moment is where real conviction gets built. Agriculture is physical work. At the end of the day there's a tangible output you can hold in your hands. It makes sense, then, that the physical experience of a product in the field is what carries the most weight. You trust what you’ve seen work. That's exactly what our tailgates are all about. Come see the system installed and running at a commercial operation. Talk to the growers and farmworkers who use it every day. Ask the hard questio

The Duckhorn Portfolio, North America’s premier luxury wine company, has selected InnoVint as its winery operating system following a comprehensive evaluation and RFP process. The decision reflects Duckhorn’s focus on modernizing its winemaking operations with a platform and a partner capable of supporting both current complexity and long-term growth. Why The Duckhorn Portfolio Chose InnoVint The Duckhorn Portfolio sought a modern, scalable solution to unify winemaking operations across multiple facilities while maintaining accuracy, compliance, and operational visibility. InnoVint was selected not only for its integrated, production-first platform, but for its deep industry expertise and proven ability to guide complex wineries through system transitions with confidence. “InnoVint stood out as more than a technology provider,” said PJ Alviso, Vice President of Winegrowing at The Duckhorn Portfolio. “During our evaluation of the winemaking software options

Presented by Vineyard Team, the Sustainable Winegrowing Podcast continued to be a go‑to resource for vineyard and winery professionals, delivering timely, practical insights straight from researchers and growers shaping the future of sustainable viticulture. From hybrid grapes and soil health to AI‑driven climate strategies and market dynamics, last year’s five most listened‑to episodes offered information listeners can apply immediately in their operations.  Beyond Foxy: The Case for Hybrid Winegrapes Episode 274 | Listen now  Forget everything you thought you knew about hybrid grapes. Adam Huss (Centralas Cellars) makes the case for these resilient, quality-driven varieties and why they’re gaining traction in a warming world.  Fungicide Resistance in Powdery and Downy Mildew: 10 Years of Vineyard Research Episode 278 | Listen now  Ismail Ahmed Ismail (South Australian Research and Development Institute) unpacks a decade of data on fungicide resist

If you’ve been in the wine business long enough, you know the rhythm of harvest tends to repeat itself — until it doesn’t. A Changing Vineyard and Cellar Landscape This year, growers and winemakers across California are still navigating tough choices. With less demand and smaller contracts, some fruit is being left on the vine or sold off early, and many wineries are cutting back crush volumes simply because cellar space and cash flow are tight. Others are consolidating vineyard blocks, farming for vine health instead of yield, or pausing replanting until the market finds its balance. Inside the cellar, the picture isn’t much different. Tanks are full, case sales are slower, and every square foot of storage matters. As a result, more wineries are stretching existing barrel inventory another season, delaying new oak purchases, and relying on recoopered and used barrels to stay flexible without adding unnecessary costs. And the pattern reaches well beyond Californ

“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

The ninth annual Rich Smith Award of Excellence for outstanding contributions to the American grape and wine industry was presented today to Emily Hodson, the winemaker at Veritas Vineyards and Winery, a co-owner of Flying Fox Vineyards and Winery, and an active leader in the Virginia wine industry. Members of the Smith family and sponsoring organizations present the Rich Smith award to Emily Hodson (third from left). The prestigious award annually reflects the spirit and accomplishments of the late Richard (Rich) Smith, founder of Valley Farm Management and Smith Family Wines in California’s Santa Lucia Highlands wine region in Monterey County. Rich was first and foremost a family man, but also a successful grape grower and winery owner, and a highly respected colleague known for the combination of passion, commitment and collaboration which helped advance the American grape and wine industry. Ever since Rich passed away in December 2015, three organizations—WineAmerica, N

In this episode, George sits down with Karissa Kruse, President & CEO of Sonoma County Winegrowers, to explore her visionary leadership in the wine industry. Karissa shares the inspiration behind crafting a groundbreaking 100-year business plan and what sets Sonoma County grape growers apart from the rest. Karissa also reflects on her critical role during the pandemic, ensuring farm workers had access to vaccines—personally scheduling an incredible 6,000 appointments in just three months. She highlights her work founding the Vineyard Employee Recognition Program in 2018, which paved the way for the Leadership Academy. Recently, graduates of the program took their skills to Washington, D.C., thanks to a partnership with Alaska Airlines. A leader driven by action, Karissa lives by the mantra: “Pilot anything and everything, and if it doesn’t work, let’s learn, and if it does work, great, let’s scale it.” Tune in to be inspired by her innovative a

Farmers and agricultural experts indicate that better access to ongoing education is crucial to advance their businesses. Recognizing that advancements in science and technology are constant, Vineyard Team launched a series of online courses to deliver the latest education on sustainable winegrowing.  Courses feature insights from experienced farmers, researchers, and UC Extension. Best of all, viewers can access these courses for free (saving $380)! All courses within Sustainable Winegrowing On Demand include valuable continuing education hours (11.5 Department of Pesticide Regulation, 34 Certified Crop Advisor), and a train-the-trainer kit so viewers can easily educate their team. Through this program, there is a unique opportunity to connect with other sustainable winegrowers through roundtable discussions. Larry Witted, PCA and CCA from Lodi, California shares, "The Sustainable Winegrowing education from Vineyard Team allows me to view cutting-edge educational pro

NAPA, CA (Sept. 12, 2024) In an ongoing partnership with Washington State University (WSU), Cooperages 1912 recently donated 18 oak wine barrels to the Viticulture and Enology (V&E) Department. The barrels will be distributed between WSU V&E research initiatives and inclusion in the auction lots for annual Auction of Washington Wines events. Since 2017, Cooperages 1912 has donated barrels for WSU V&E’s red wine barrel fermentation experiment. The objective of the experiment is to compare either cabernet sauvignon or merlot barrel fermentation with tank fermentation and other treatments. The study allows students to evaluate the effect of red wine barrel fermentation on the composition and sensory perception of the resulting wines. This year, WSU is conducting the experiment with four different types of TW Boswell French oak barrels. “The support from Cooperages 1912 with donations of oak wine barrels has been tremendous,” said WSU Professor of Enology