It may sound unusual to integrate new AI with the long history and tradition of winemaking. However, the wine industry has been open to adopting other modern technologies throughout the last 50 years. While tradition is important, wine quality should always be the most important consideration. At Laurel Glen, our vineyard manager Phil Coturri has already begun experimenting with two AI companies to improve vineyard operations.
Orchard Robotics is a startup based in San Francisco. They developed a system with cameras that are mounted on tractors to gather ultra-high-resolution images as they traverse the vineyard. The collected images are then analyzed by Orchard Robotics AI for fruit size, color and health to generate data on vines. This data is used to track growth, yield and health and to help make decisions for grapevines that may need extra nutrients, pruning or thinning. This technology can also be used on orchards growing apples, cherries, citrus, almonds and pistachios.
Agricultural Scout AI automates vine counts, vineyard mapping and vine classification data to monitor plant performance, shoot length, fruit and yield performance, cluster counts, cluster size, vine health and virus mapping. Their solutions drive efficiency and enhance decision-making through precise, data-driven approaches. The data that Scout captures enables vineyard teams to meet budgets among rising labor costs. Scout streamlines material orders, and reduces waste from compost, applications and nursery orders.
In the winery, winemakers use bulk inventory tracking systems to keep track of different fermentations or tank and barrel groups during aging. It makes it easier to look up and keep track of what was done during each fermentation, when a barrel group was topped, which barrels were blended together and so many other important winemaking procedures. The wine inventory system that Laurel Glen uses is called Innovint and is one of the best available. Innovint is just integrating a beta trial of AI through its CooperAssist feature to function as a smart assistant for winemakers, enabling them to record actions and ask questions on the fly. With planned future updates, this AI assistant will allow for voice and photo capture to record data and generate work orders, further reducing manual input and time spent on administrative tasks. This integration streamlines the wine production process by moving beyond simple record-keeping to provide real-time data insights and automate routine functions, ultimately freeing up winemakers to focus on the craft of winemaking.
AI is new in wineries, but we are open to improvements that can be made in information collection, workflow efficiency and waste reduction. Of course there are many things that AI cannot help with in the ancient craft of winemaking that combines art and science and the human sensory skills of smell and taste. Wine has always been about the marriage of nature and human intuition—the soil, the sun, the grapes, and the winemaker’s hand.