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April 2018 WINES&VINES 23 PRODUCT NEWS mouthfeel and finish, adjust the perception of alcohol, mask vegetal flavors, enhance fruit flavors or pre- vent oxidation. gusmerwine.com Updated weather station Onset released the latest version of its HOBOlink web-enabled soft- ware platform for the company's HOBO RX3000 remote monitoring systems. The platform is now inte- grated with Google Maps and Weather Underground and features an updated design to simplify weather monitoring and reporting. The cloud-based service enables users to access current and histor- ical weather data via web browsers or mobile devices, set alarm notifi- cations and adjust data logging settings. onsetcomp.com Sustainable label materials Avery Dennison Label and Pack- aging Materials added two new label materials with sustainable face stocks to its wine and spirits portfolio. The new materials are designed to meet consumer de- mand for sustainably packaged products. Grape Touch is made of 15% grape waste sourced from wine production. Estate Label No. 14 is a 100% post-consumer- waste (PCW) paper material that maintains color and strength, even when wet. The supplier re- ports the new material success- fully combines the Estate Label standard of excellence to sustain- ability that consumers now ex- pect. label.averydennison.com 'Decision agriculture' system Arable describes its system as "decision agriculture" and can be used for crop monitoring as well as providing real time insights on leaf water potential, NDVI and powdery mildew risk alerts. The company's in-field weather and crop monitor collects from 40 dif- ferent data streams and can pro- vide real time results to any handheld device. The system can help "identify vulnerabilities early" so only minimal treatments are needed. Infrared thermal technol- ogy can be used to set a water strategy that can be monitored with vine stress readings record- ed via the cloud. arable.com Terracotta vessels for wine Bouchard Cooperages is now of- fering terracotta wine tanks from the Italian company Antica For- nace Montecchio. The company's amphorae and tanks are made of 100% natural materials, and ac- cording to the supplier have a po- rosity that allows for the micro-oxygenation of the wine. The amphorae also act as thermal insulators and can impart mineral- ity with "earthy notes" and a lifting of the wine on the palate, Boucha- rd states. The company also re- ports terracotta can add richness to the color of red wines. If clear, white wines are aged in the mate- rial it will impart a very light color enrichment to the wine over time. bouchardcooperages.com Enhanced tasting room portal VingDirect launched an improved VingPortal that features a tasting room performance tracker, bench- marking dashboard tool and re- source library. This supplier claims the online tool provides wineries with "results-driven data." The enhanced portal is ex- clusive to VingDirect winery mem- bers. The automated online tool downloads data directly from win- eries' POS systems and is acces- sible from any computer or mobile device with internet ac- cess. The benchmarking dash- board tool enables a winery to gauge its tasting room by com- paring it to VingDirect winery members. Wineries can now benchmark using a zip code filter and distance from their tasting room. New features include a sliding scale range for annual taster count and average retail bottle price. vingdirect.com