Wines & Vines

March 2017 Vineyard Equipment & Technology Issue

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March 2017 WINES&VINES 31 WINEMAKING One of the pioneers in engineering crossflow filtration, Romfil Crossflow systems have been filtering wine since 1998. Romfil crossflow stands for quality and precision in manufacturing and processing. Our filters are simple, gentle, modular and thoughtfully engineered. With capacity ranges from 200 gallons an hour to over 5000 gallons an hour – we have a system to simplify your life. FOR THE LOVE OF WINE West: 707-864-5800 East: 540-825-5700 info@euromachinesusa.com – www.euromachinesusa.com ROMFIL CROSSFLOW FILTRATION lenc harvester/destemmer/sorters and end up with grapes that are conceivably ready to go to the tank—or, as Ullom said, "The grapes are clean and looking like caviar." Once they started using these automated systems, it "was a black- and-white difference, and we jumped on it" for wines selling from $13 to $125 per bottle. Advanced technology: Aerial imaging of vineyards is used heavily, in particular NDVI technology. Ullom recommended that any vine- yard owner should have at least one image taken per year, as it offers a quick way to see rich, weak and average vines and soils without walking every row. He has images taken in spring, mid-summer (close to véraison) and just before harvest. In summary, many tools are available to grapegrowers and winemakers to measure and manage vine health and grape quality. Some are leading-edge technology like EVI aerial imaging, and some as simple as having a great cellar crew that lets you as the winemaker spend time in the vineyard. Andy Starr, founder of StarrGreen (starr green.com), is an entrepreneur, marketing manager and winemaker who provides strategy, management and business develop- ment consulting services. A resident of Napa Valley, Calif., he holds a bachelor's degree in fermentation science from the University of California, Davis, and an MBA from UCLA. AN AERIAL IMAGING LEADER A fter learning about the widespread use of aerial imaging by the wineries mentioned in this story, I met with VineView, an aerial-imaging leader started by Melissa and Matthew Staid, who both hold Ph.Ds. in geological sciences from Brown University. I sat down with them and Bryan Soderblom, VineView director of marketing (and chief pilot) at their office in Angwin, Calif. VineView uses technology Matthew Staid helped to develop when working with NASA to detect minerals on other planets. This expertise allowed VineView to become the first com- pany to offer hyperspectral imaging to wine grape growers, providing a new way to identify disease and water stress from above. While aerial imaging has used NDVI as the standard since 1992, in the past five years VineView has taken NDVI one step further with the en- hanced vegetation index or EVI. It eliminates NDVI's inherent problems with light changes due to soil variation, atmospheric variation and variation or due to solar angle. (The shadows from an image taken at 11 a.m. will be different from one taken at 3 p.m., causing distortions and possibly inaccurate information.) Aerial imaging allows the grower to see the entire vineyard at once, allowing for better irriga- tion, fertilization, thinning and pruning decisions. In using it on a regular basis, a grower can compare images season to season in order to evaluate the effectiveness of a treatment. For example, a grower who may have altered irrigation to level canopy and crop load can now see the results. Going forward, Matt Staid explained the next frontier is to "detect" vine diseases before they are visible to the human eye. VineView's imaging can map leaf color changes associated with leafroll disease in its earliest stages, when it is confined to a few vines. This gives the grower much more opportunity to eradicate or contain the problem.

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