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W ine MAK in G which does the vast majority of its business with crops other than grapes, "but gener- ally the wine industry is a late adopter. It's a fragmented industry with tens of thousands of wineries, massive scale differences and a majority close to garage size." "Wineries mostly have lots of unrelated parts," says Richards says, "each designed for peak processing, and the components often have their own isolated intelligence. We end up with state-of-the-art components not operating in a state-of-the-art manner." Not surprisingly, automation has caught on more quickly within national wine indus- tries trying to invent or reinvent themselves such as New Zealand and Australia. Export- oriented wineries and wine industries are also more eager adopters, since maintaining their market shares absolutely requires reli- ability, consistency and traceability. Markus Milz also says that while European wineries are very conscious of energy needs and limi- tations, "in the U.S. the idea of saving energy hasn't really arrived yet." Some hesitation, of course, comes from the extra expense, particularly in recession- ary times. But more surely comes from the view that winemakers have to be "hands on," need to be close to and intimately in- volved with their wines, not turning the The Logix master control panel simultaneously monitors dozens of stainless tanks at Chateau Ste. Michelle in Washington state. delicate, sensual art of winemaking over to some machine. Yet proponents of the tech- nology say it doesn't change the winemak- ing one bit; it simply reduces the drudgery, the late nights, the mistakes, the wasted time and the under-performing wines. "We don't interfere with winemaking," says Jim Conant. "They can do their job. We provide them with data, let them change things automatically over time—and arrest the Brix fall at 3 o'clock in the morning. This allows them to focus on winemaking management. It automates routine tasks, oblivious to winemaking techniques." Unlike designer yeasts or wonder enzymes or the latest wrinkle in barrel toasting, auto- mation doesn't promise to change your wine, just your winemaking. "We're not telling the ORDER YOUR 2011 DIRECTORY NOW! n Get The Industry Standard n Over 7,000 Winery listings included n Revamped Suppliers section for easier search n Directory purchase upgrades your online access winemaker what to do," says Milz, "we're just helping with a device so the winemaker knows more about what he's doing." For winemaker Sam Kaplan, "My wine- making style is all about the vineyard. I embrace the technology to be more hands off, to let fruit do the work." "It's just a tool," says Jim Conant, "and all tools require a competent tool user." Tim Patterson is the author of the newly re- leased Home Winemaking for Dummies. He writes about wine and makes his own in Berke- ley, Calif. Years of experience as a journalist, combined with a contrarian streak, make him interested in getting to the bottom of wine sto- ries, casting a critical eye on conventional wis- dom in the process. To comment on this article, e-mail edit@winesandvines.com. FREE SHIPPING! $95 WINESANDVINESBUYERSGUIDE.COM 866.453.9701 Wines & Vines FeBRUARY 2011 69