Unsurprisingly, wine club members’ top four wine club favorites were related to pricing and selection (all photos courtesy Wine Market Council.)
Wine clubs are the beating heart for many small- to medium-sized wineries since they account for 86% of direct sales for the average U.S. winery, according to industry data. Due to their vital importance, the Wine Market Council commissioned a study this past spring to see just what motivates the average wine club member and came up with some compelling data and insights wine marketers can leverage.
Wine Market Council Research Director Christian Miller estimated that the group’s survey of 9,108 wine club members drew from 24 to 30 individual wineries. It included at least three respondents from every state.
Top Picks: Price and Selection Unsurprisingly, wine club members’ top four wine club favorites were related to pricing and selection. Specifically, they cited discounted prices on wines and shipping as well as flexibility in choosing their club wines and access to special small lot wines or library selections as key features.
Paradoxically, 57% said club events at the winery were a draw, even though only 32% attended club events. Respondents were more motivated by other socializing features, like the ability to bring friends along to events or having access to club-only rooms or tastings.
While 88% joined when they were visiting the winery or after a visit, remarkably, 5% joined without having visited and 2% joined after a wine dinner or tasting in their region.
Wine Club Members Are Not the Average Wine Drinker Wine club members stand out from the average wine drinker for their wealth. Said Wine Market Council President Liz Thach, who moderated the online webinar, “46% make over $200,000 per year. When you compare that to the average annual income in the United States, $59,000, that’s pretty high.”
An income of $200,000 puts those individuals in the top 12% of U.S. household incomes.
The average wine club member is 59 years old. Though the majority are still working full time (54%), 40% are retired.
Though California had the highest number of club members (36% of the sample), the next four states (New York, Florida, Texas, Illinois) accounted for 17% of club members in the survey. The rest (47%) were from other states, meaning club members are widely dispersed.
Wine club members are also frequent flyers; 72% are members of more than one club.
“These are people who love wine,”
said Thach.
Reasons for leaving a wine club were varied, with 32% saying the expense was too high, while 27% said they switched to another club they liked better.
The Downside But it’s not always long-lasting love, the data showed. According to the Silicon Valley Bank DTC survey in 2024, wine club churn rates are up; 19% of members leave. A Wine Business Monthly Tasting room survey found visitation and wine club recruitment declined by 4% in 2023, a cause for concern.
Reasons for leaving a wine club were varied, with 32% saying the expense was too high, while 27% said they switched to another club they liked better.
Tasting Room Visits Most respondents visit a winery more than once a year, the survey found.
What drives repeat visits? Variety and tasting. 55% of respondents liked to be able to choose from a variety of experiences at the winery, the survey found. 48% liked being able to taste older or rare vintages. Wine and food pairings were also popular, with 42% rating that important, as were personal or private tastings (42%).
22% were interested in owner tours. Another20% were interested in vineyard tours.
Most respondents visit a winery more than once a year.
What Tasting Room Visitors Are Looking For The survey also asked respondents which attributes were most important when visiting a winery. Hospitality was by far the top-rated feature.
Some Hispanic and Asian American respondents were more apt to be looking for kid- and pet-friendly wineries, while 44% of black wine club members said a beautiful winery or tasting room was important. 35% of black wine club members wanted a casual wine lounge for hanging out.
Activities like bocce ball, art exhibits and hikes were not highly rated overall, with just 9% citing that as important.
A Positive Demographic Shift in Progress When it comes to planning to visit a winery, black wine club members outnumbered all other ethnic groups, with 55% saying they intended to visit winery tasting rooms.
Only 15% of boomers said they intended to visit a winery, compared to 31% of Gen X (age 43 to 58) and 36% of millennials (age 27 to 42).
Said Miller, “If you look at those who intend to visit, you are looking at an upcoming wave of quite a different demographic group, much younger, much more diverse… So we could be facing a pretty fast demographic shift here in terms of visitation if these people do what they say they’re going to do.”
Some Hispanic and Asian American respondents were more apt to be looking for kid- and pet-friendly wineries, while 44% of black wine club members said a beautiful winery or tasting room was important.
Wine Club Members as Social Media Ambassadors Researchers said they hoped the data would help marketers to be more effective in attracting and retaining wine club members.
Thach said, “Happily, 78% [of wine club members] purchase more wine from your winery website [in addition to the club shipments]. That’s what you want.”
But that’s not all they do, she said; they add value to your brand.
“Even better, in my opinion, 78% have posted a photo image or comment on social media. 77% recommend your wine to a friend.”
“They’re loving your wine and they’re out there talking about it. I hope you are tracking that. I hope you know what’s happening with your social media and people talking about you online,” she said.
Halfway between two lively California counties, Los Angeles to the south and San Francisco to the north, lies one with a far more relaxed pace: San Luis Obispo County. The area boasts an agreeable climate, stunning topography and myriads of natural attractions.
These natural features are more than meets the eye. They are the foundation for the county’s successful economy in agriculture. The region relies heavily upon the land and its abundance of livestock, nursery products, fruit and nut trees, and vegetable crops.
But the farms in this area are not closed systems. Growers use practices that extend beyond their cultivated lands and into the larger ecosystems that encapsulate them.
The soil in which agriculturalists plant their crops; ground water and neighboring water bodies; and native wildlife, plants and insects are all factors that not only influence the farm but are impacted by decisions made on the farm.
Responsible land stewards consider the big picture when making management decisions. When managed sustainably, the native biological activity of an agricultural site contributes to a healthier agricultural system.
To share their appreciation for their habitat, Margarita Ranch welcomes visitors to the ranch to explore and learn more about their natural wonders. Margarita Adventures offers various educational tours with their dedicated naturalist, Jaquelin Redinger (all photos courtesy Margarita Ranch.)
The sustainably farmed winegrape vineyards of San Luis Obispo County are teeming with examples of stewards putting conservation practices to work. One such vineyard is located at the southern border of the Santa Margarita Ranch AVA.
Since the region is known for wine, it may be surprising to learn there is only one vineyard in the Santa Margarita Ranch sub-appellation: Ancient Peaks Winery’s estate Margarita Vineyard.
While Franciscan missionaries planted the first grapes on the ranch in the late 1700s, Robert Mondavi planted the present-day Margarita Vineyard in 1999. Today, the vineyard’s management company alongside Founding Winemaker Mike Sinor continue to work with the land and have achieved a 15-year history of SIP Certified® sustainable certification for environmentally and socially responsible practices.
Rooted for Good California’s native habitats are significant but often overlooked carbon sinks (Center for Biological Diversity 2023). But carbon sequestration is just one of the many positive impacts native plant life has for a farm.
Soil erosion and fertility issues have long plagued agriculturalists across the world. Beyond being a complication for farm operations, poor soil health wreaks havoc on water quality. Cultivated soils are often treated with supplemental nutrients, but when soil structure is lacking, these lands are prone to erosion. The water runoff that ensues contains soil particles, bacteria and excess nutrients that pose a threat to water quality (NRCD 2019).
Margarita Vineyard uses plants to remedy these issues. In the beginning, the team experimented with planting cover crops, but now they prefer to let native grasses flourish between the rows of vines. These grasses thrive in the ranch’s conditions, and their strong roots hold soil in place and prevent it from washing away. The native cover crops also create a diversity of beneficial soil microbes and nutrients beneath the surface to further improve soil structure and quality. Altogether, the vineyard’s structured, fertile soils stall water’s flow and act as a filter that prevents sediment and excess nutrients from leaching into groundwater.
“There’s one spot near the vineyard we call Turtle Pond,” said Sinor, who has been instrumental in building the winery’s success and continuing Mondavi’s meticulous sustainable vineyard practices. “There are definitely a lot of turtles there, and frogs, too. Around Block 32, you can see the pond and watch the turtles hanging out.”
When Mondavi planted Margarita Vineyard, he wanted to take extra precautions to protect the property’s waterbodies. He took the California Conservation Corps’ prescribed riparian setback distance and doubled it.
Much like the native grasses between their vines, the plant communities that exist in these riparian areas intercept water as it runs away from the vineyard and prevent sediment and excess nutrients from entering the waterbodies. The extra distance gives the water more time to be filtered by roots as it moves underground, further ensuring waters are protected.
Cattle and eagles make up a fraction of the diverse ecosystem at Margarita Vineyard.
Roaming the Ranch Living in tandem with the critters in Margarita Ranch’s Turtle Pond are 41 mammal and 16 reptile species. Black bears, deer, wild boar, turkeys and bobcats are just a few of the wild animals that roam the rugged land. Even though Margarita Vineyard is only a small fraction of the ranch, these wild animals still call the cultivated land home and need to travel through and around it.
To ensure the ranch’s inhabitants can access resources throughout the property, Mondavi fenced Margarita Vineyard in separate sections. To further assist their furry friends with easy passage, Sinor explained, “The fences are ‘leaky fences.’ They aren’t very tall and have clear space down below to allow animals to migrate and get past them pretty easily.”
Non-permeable fences block access to resources and pose a serious injury risk for animals that attempt to get through, over or below them. The leaky fences and strategic sectioning at Margarita Vineyard allow the ranch’s wildlife to move safely through the property while keeping the grapes protected from heavy animal traffic.
Nature’s Helpers While Margarita Vineyard’s team takes great pride in protecting wildlife on the property, they must control certain wild animals to maintain the vineyard’s health.
Vertebrate pests like ground squirrels can severely injure or outright kill grapevines. To protect their vines, Margarita Vineyard’s team decided to make the area less hospitable to these pests by attracting natural predators. 80 owl boxes and 16 raptor perches encourage these birds of prey to hang out and scout the area for their next meal.
But birds aren’t the only predatory animals that help control pests at Margarita Vineyard. Wild cats (not just the ranch’s big cats like mountain lions and bobcats, but wild domestic cats) also share in the rodent patrol.
“The cats on the property really help to cut down the rodent and squirrel populations,” Sinor said. This may at first seem problematic since feral cats are extremely territorial, but this works out at the ranch because it’s spacious and the cats have plenty of room to spread out. Plus, there are many barns on the property to provide shelter and act as a home base for the colonies.
“Each of our barns has its own population,” he said.
To protect their vines, Margarita Vineyard’s team decided to make the area less hospitable to rodent pests by attracting natural predators. 80 owl boxes and 16 raptor perches encourage these birds of prey to hang out and scout the area for their next meal.
Experience the Splendor To share their appreciation for their habitat, Margarita Ranch welcomes visitors to the ranch to explore and learn more about their natural wonders. Margarita Adventures offers various educational tours with their dedicated naturalist, Jaquelin Redinger.
Redinger guides eager tourists through the ranch to explore the ecosystems, plants and wildlife; scout for majestic eagles; forage for native plants; and even create personal photography collections. Scenic eBike tours invite guests to learn about the ranch’s history as part of California’s iconic Mission Trail and dig deeper into the native wildlife and sustainable winegrowing practices that help protect the ranch’s habitat.
Redinger shares her skills and knowledge about the nature around the ranch with the whole Margarita Vineyard and Ancient Peaks Winery team. “She has shown us how our eagle population has increased in the past few years and how to make salads and herbal tea from plants foraged from the ranch,” Sinor said.
Environmental stewardship is what most people think about when they hear the word ‘sustainability.’ Social responsibility is an equally significant component, and San Luis Obispo County’s sustainable winegrowers have big ways of showing their care. In the next Sustainable Story, learn how a boutique winery in Paso Robles uses their success to support people and animals in need.
Domaine Helena is a 215-acre vineyard and winery in Lake County near the Napa County border.
Andre Gueziec presents a good example of why you should never depend on one large client for your wine grapes.
Gueziec, 57, is fairly new to the wine business. He’s from Alsace, France. and grew up around wine, but he was a software engineer. He developed traffic-monitoring software and sold it to the Weather Network. That gave him the money to buy, in 2020, Domaine Helena, a 215-acre vineyard and winery in Lake County near the Napa County border.
The Valley Fire had ripped through the property in 2015 but left the 82 acres of vineyards undamaged, though it burned trees that were in the middle of vineyards. The property just east of Cobb Mountain and just north of Mt. Saint Helena, hence the name, is at 1100 feet of elevation, keeping high temperatures moderate in mid-summer. Gueziec says the soil, at the foot of the two mountains, is volcanic. The oldest vines are nearly 12 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon planted on St. George rootstock in 1992.
“We get a cool afternoon breeze off [Cobb] Mountain,” Gueziec said. “It’s very clean air. There are no mildew spores from the mountain because there aren’t any vineyards there.”
Gueziec immediately took his vineyards organic, and in July his vineyard became certified organic. He said he was most concerned about his own health after reading about the connection between glyphosate and non-Hodgkins lymphoma. A 2019 study led by two researchers at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health reported a 41% increase in the risk of this type of cancer for people with high cumulative exposure to glyphosate.
“I spend a lot of time in the vineyard,” Gueziec said. “These people who are at the tradeshows asking, ‘Should I be sustainable?’ If they were the ones doing the suckering themselves, they’d be organic.”
Going organic takes a lot of work, and not all of it in the vineyard. Vegetation on the unplanted hilly parts of the property, which had been seared by the Valley Fire, grew back with such exuberance that he couldn’t use the road anymore and had to painstakingly clear it.
“Part of the problem when you go organic is a lot of life comes back, and some of it you have to fight,” Gueziec said.
Andre Gueziec is an ex-software engineer and owner of Domaine Helena. In 2024, the vineyard became certified organic.
Organic Doesn’t Guarantee Success Gueziec didn’t go organic to make his grapes easier to sell; he really believes in organic farming. He’s enthusiastic about taking care of his vineyard. He rips or digs out individual tall weeds himself. Otherwise, he uses a Clemens Radius to trim weeds; it has an attachment that retracts the blade when it hits trellising or a vine.
Moreover, he inherited a large grape client with the property. Gueziec said this winery wanted to be the exclusive buyer of his grapes, though it did allow him to make some wine on his own.
But after the 2022 vintage, the buyer walked away, leaving him with an 82-acre organic vineyard in Lake County and no ongoing winery clients.
The old adage about “the way to make a small fortune in the wine industry is to start with a large one” suddenly became true. Gueziec did make a lot of money in the software industry, but he has already plowed most of it into the property. He has a few clients now for some of his grapes, including T. Berkley Wines in nearby Calistoga, Chacewater in Kelseyville and Lodi’s Michael David Winery.
Gueziec didn’t go organic to make his grapes easier to sell; he really believes in organic farming. However, his story is one that proves going organic doesn’t necessarily guarantee success, at least not in the short term.
Gueziec is struggling to stay afloat. He rents out the property’s three-bedroom house when he can on Air BnB and stays in a tiny trailer on the property that doesn’t look long enough to sleep stretched out. Without a major grape client for the 2023 vintage, he harvested and made wine at a custom crush in Napa, but now he doesn’t know what to do with it.
“I don’t want to try to sell bulk wine. Nobody’s buying bulk wine,” Gueziec said.
But that left him in late August with rapidly ripening grapes and few buyers for them. Gueziec has been advertising his grapes for home winemakers in classified ads on wineindustry.com. There are a lot of grapes to be had: 62 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon, 15 acres of Petite Sirah (Gueziec plans to make this for himself if nobody buys it) and 4.6 acres of Cabernet Franc. Unfortunately, it is the small plot of Cabernet Franc that has attracted the most interest.
While being interviewed for Grape & Wine, Gueziec also had a visit from Steve Sebastian, who oversees development for Restoration Hardware, a Marin County-based upscale furniture store chain that has restaurants in 14 of its stores. That sounds very promising, but Sebastian was only there to bring bins in preparation for buying a ton of Cabernet Franc for the personal wine he makes at his home in Sonoma County.
“I looked into the history of the grapes,” Sebastian said. “Some very nice wineries are using them to make very nice wine. I like the elevation. They’re very well-maintained vineyards. I’ve just got a feeling they will make very good wine.”
Martin Pohl, one of two consulting winemakers for Domaine Helena, agrees. For his own winery, nearby Beaver Creek Vineyards, Pohl makes completely natural “zero-zero” wines (Gueziec adds sulfites both at harvest and at bottling to his own wines.) Pohl likes Gueziec’s commitment to organic farming.
“I’m a promoter of making wines without any chemicals,” said Pohl, a native of the Czech Republic. “It’s the future. You see the rise in autoimmune diseases. You see the cancer. It’s the food chain. If I’m going to consume my own wine I don’t want glyphosate in it. If you drink things with chemicals, you end up sick. I want to live a healthy lifestyle. It’s the plan of the gods.”
Gueziec is in the unusual situation of not making a lot of wine but having two winemakers working essentially with the same grapes. The second is Derek Holstein, the main winemaker for Cache Creek Vineyards and Winery (not to be confused with the casino, which is 40 miles southeast). Holstein makes wine in a more traditional method than Pohl, whose red wines tend to be the “glou-glou” easy drinking style.
What is most surprising is, though the berries are very small, neither winemaker’s wines are as concentrated and tannic as you’d expect. Instead, they are juicy with red rather than black fruit. Particularly surprising is his Petite Sirah, which is a light and pretty version of the varietal that was reminiscent of Pinot Noir, something you rarely hear said about Petite Sirah.
“It’s just from what happens in the vineyard,” Gueziec said.
As a small organic winegrape grower, Gueziec has struggled financially with high property taxes and electricity rates as well as replanting costs.
Looking Ahead Making nice grapes, or nice wine, in 2024 doesn’t necessarily translate into business success. Gueziec tore out a plot of Cabernet Sauvignon that had red blotch but doesn’t have the money to replant. He built a warehouse capable of holding 45,000 cases of wine (that would represent three years production), but he’s not sure that he has the money to pay for air conditioning in summer due to high PG&E rates.
He so far has not received a Williamson Act exemption that would lower his taxes.
“If I farm all my grapes, it’s $600,000 income total,” Gueziec said. “I pay $60,000 property tax. It’s expensive.”
Currently, Gueziec uses a vineyard management company, but he says the 45% surcharge on services is leading him to think about hiring full-time on-site staff. Currently, he has no employees; however, he knows if he does hire staff instead of using an outside company, he’ll lose access to the large, expensive equipment vineyard management companies offer.
“I’m not the only one who will tell you that small farmers are struggling,” Gueziec said. “What happens when the only person growing food is Bill Gates? My 10-year plan was to make this a winery. But it’s hard to live off this much land. I must get this place to work. I’ve got a lot invested in it.”
Diseases like red blotch and leaf roll can alter spectral signatures, an object’s response to light absorption, offering non-invasive means of detection.
In viticulture, grapevines face many threats, with virus diseases standing out as insidious adversaries. Among these, leafroll and red blotch pose significant challenges due to their elusive nature and lack of curative solutions. Traditional containment methods involve the laborious and costly process of identifying infected vines and replacing them with healthy ones (i.e., roguing). Identifying virus-infected grapevines is no simple task. It requires the expertise of individuals well-versed in the nuances of virus symptoms. Even for professionals, accurate diagnosis often necessitates sampling vine tissue for laboratory analysis, typically through molecular testing such as Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). This process is time-consuming and financially burdensome, underscoring the urgent need for innovative solutions to streamline detection efforts. Recent advancements in technology offer a glimmer of hope, promising more efficient and precise methods of detection and management.
Vineyard management has seen a surge in precision tools to optimize cultivation practices. Central to this trend is the development of sensors capable of delving deeper into the vine’s spectral response to stress. These advanced technologies empower growers to monitor vine health with unprecedented precision, offering insights that were once inaccessible through conventional means. In 2019, a groundbreaking project was launched at California State University, Fresno, funded by USDA, CDFA, CSU-ARI and F3, Fresno-Merced Future of Food innovative initiative, and in collaboration with experts from Cornell University and UC ANR. The initiative aimed to revolutionize the detection of leafroll and red blotch viruses using hyperspectral imagery.
One phase of the project involved deploying a drone-mounted hyperspectral camera to capture images of ~300 vines during the post-veraison stage. This aerial perspective provided a comprehensive view of the vineyard, enabling it to assess vine health and identify infections across a potentially larger scale.
Hyperspectral Imagery At its core, hyperspectral imaging is a cutting-edge technology that enables measuring an object’s response to light absorption across a wide range of wavelengths. By analyzing the spectral signature of grapevines, researchers can glean valuable insights into their physiological and health state. For instance, variations in chlorophyll and anthocyanin concentrations manifest as distinct patterns in the visible spectrum (the portion of light wavelengths we interact with our eyes), while changes in cell structure influence near-infrared wavelengths (which are not visible to our eyes). Furthermore, water content and other chemical compounds (cellulose, sugar) leave their imprint in the shortwave infrared domain. Crucially, diseases such as leafroll and red blotch can alter these spectral signatures, offering non-invasive means of detection.
The project’s first phase involved sampling 500 leaves from both healthy and virus-infected plants (by leafroll, red blotch or both viruses). These leaves were then subjected to hyperspectral imaging within the controlled environment of a dark cabinet in the laboratory, capturing images across the 500- to 700-nm range. Machine-vision techniques, particularly Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN), were employed to analyze hyperspectral imagery and detect signs of infection in grapevines. CNNs are a type of deep learning algorithm that excels at image recognition tasks by automatically learning features from raw pixel data. During this phase, the CNN model achieved impressive results. For binary classification, distinguishing between infected vines (with red blotch or leafroll) and healthy ones, the model attained an accuracy of 87% when symptoms were visible at post-veraison and 85.6% when symptoms were not yet visible to the naked eye, thus at pre-veraison. This demonstrated the model’s effectiveness in detecting infections even before visible symptoms manifested. Furthermore, in a more complex multiclass classification task aimed at identifying the specific virus infecting the vine, thus distinguishing between leafroll and red blotch, the CNN model achieved an overall accuracy of 76.9%. This highlights the model’s ability to differentiate between viruses based on subtle spectral variations (Sawyer et al. 2023).
The hyperspectral imaging project was project was launched at California State University, Fresno, funded by USDA, CDFA, CSU-ARI and F3, Fresno-Merced Future of Food innovative initiative, and in collaboration with experts from Cornell University and UC ANR (all photos courtesy L. Brillante.)
Buoyed by these promising outcomes, the project advanced to its second phase, transitioning from the controlled environment of the lab to the dynamic conditions of the field. Utilizing the same hyperspectral camera, images of the side of 700 vines were captured in the vineyard, focusing specifically on detecting red blotch virus. When symptoms were not visibly apparent, a model achieved an overall accuracy of 68.6%. As the season progressed and symptoms became more pronounced, the accuracy improved significantly, reaching 76.6% with a Support-Vector Machine (SVM) model. This underscores the model’s adaptability to real-world conditions and its efficacy in detecting infections even in the absence of visible symptoms (Laroche-Pinel et al. 2024a).
In the third phase of the project, the approach was elevated by deploying a drone-mounted hyperspectral camera to capture images of ~300 vines during the post-veraison stage. This aerial perspective provided a comprehensive view of the vineyard, enabling it to assess vine health and identify infections across a potentially larger scale. Expanding beyond mere detection, the focus shifted toward leveraging the spectral response of the vines to extract valuable biochemical information. Specifically, a model was used to predict the concentrations of three key pigments (chlorophyll, carotenoids and anthocyanins) based on the spectral data captured by the drone. The striking results revealed significant differences in pigment concentrations between infected and non-infected vines. Non-infected vines exhibited higher predicted levels of chlorophyll and carotenoids, indicative of healthier foliage and photosynthetic activity. Conversely, infected vines displayed elevated levels of anthocyanins, a response often triggered by stressors such as viral infections. Utilizing the spectral information, machine learning techniques were applied to classify vines as either infected or non-infected by red blotch. The model achieved an impressive accuracy rate of 87% in binary classification, further underscoring the efficacy of hyperspectral imaging coupled with advanced data analysis in disease detection and management (Laroche-Pinel et al. 2024b).
Table 1. Machine learning model accuracy and hyperspectral imaging efficacy. The results highlight the model’s ability to differentiate between viruses based on subtle spectral variations and adaptability to real-world conditions and its efficacy in detecting infections even in the absence of visible symptoms.
Pivotal Advancement in Vineyard Monitoring This phase represents a pivotal advancement in vineyard monitoring, offering a holistic approach that transcends the mere identification of infections. By harnessing the spectral signatures of grapevines, growers gain valuable insights into their physiological status and biochemical composition, empowering them to make informed decisions regarding vineyard management practices. The project’s third phase marks a significant milestone in the quest for more effective vineyard management strategies. Overall, these findings represent a significant leap forward in vineyard management. As the battle against grapevine virus diseases rages on, the integration of hyperspectral imaging holds immense promise for vineyard management. By harnessing the power of advanced technology, growers can detect and mitigate threats more effectively, safeguarding the health and productivity of their vineyards. With ongoing research and innovation, the vision of a future where precision tools enable proactive disease management is within reach.
References
Laroche-Pinel, E., Singh, K., Flasco, M., Cooper, M.L., Fuchs, M., Brillante, L. (2024a). Grapevine Red Blotch Virus Detection in the Vineyard: Leveraging Machine Learning with VIS/NIR Hyperspectral Images. (In review)
Laroche-Pinel, E., Singh, K., M., Cooper, M.L., Fuchs, M., Brillante, L. (2024b). Advanced Detection of Grapevine Red Blotch Virus at the Plant Level in Vineyards: A Drone-Based Approach using VIS/NIR Hyperspectral Camera, Machine Learning, and PROSPECT Inversion Model. (In Prep)
Sawyer E., Laroche-Pinel E., Flasco M., Cooper M.L., Corrales B., Fuchs M., Brillante, L. (2023) Phenotyping grapevine red blotch virus and grapevine leafroll associated viruses before and after symptom expression through machine-learning analysis of hyperspectral images. Frontiers in Plant Science. 14:1117869. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1117869
Some suggest the Central Valley could be the epicenter of a new bioindustrial innovation era. “Innovations are going to happen in this area,” according to Paul Maglio, professor of management in the school of engineering at UC Merced (photo courtesy Hawk Tower.)
Hotshot Lawrence Berkeley Lab energy experts and local leaders are participating in a regional initiative to see if agricultural wastes can fuel next-gen aviation fuels, plastics replacements and maybe even a few things no one has thought of yet, experts involved said. The innovative coalition is moving forward with a specific project to map the available resources to support a nascent, bioindustrial economy in the Central Valley.
That coalition involves cutting-edge energy expertise from leading scientists at Berkeley Lab, tech philanthropists exploring the edge of carbon innovation, circular economy evangelists and wineries.
“We are really rethinking our relationship with waste here in the Central Valley,” said Karen Warner, CEO of Modesto-based BEAM Circular. “We’re working to unlock the power of agricultural communities to transform the waste that often comes from the food and ag sector into new economic value and environmental opportunities.
Some suggest the Central Valley could be the epicenter of a new bioindustrial innovation era. Among them is Paul Maglio, professor of management in the school of engineering at UC Merced, who spoke at a BEAM Circular community brainstorming session that E. & J. Gallo Winery participated in. He thinks the Central Valley has everything it takes to make it happen there.
“Innovations are going to happen in this area,” Maglio said in a video of a recent meeting. “With the access to intellectual capital in the Bay Area, the access to the educational resources as well as access to the raw materials that we need, that makes [the Central Valley] the perfect spot.”
In July, another BEAM Circular initiative, funded by the Virtual Institute on Feedstocks of the Future (VIFF), received more than $9 million for a digital mapping project focused on the North San Joaquin Valley co-led by BEAM Circular, Berkeley Lab and UC partners.
Scientists, philanthropists and Central Valley leaders participated in a community brainstorming session courtesy of BEAM Circular to discuss opportunities for a bioindustrial economy in the Central Valley.
Exit Ag Waste Burning: Growers’ Burn Permits a Thing of the Past The initiative is welcome news for those involved in making California air cleaner and safer. According to Valley Air officials, the Central Valley historically burned “well over 1 million tons annually.”
It took more than two decades for the 2003 legislation to stop burning ag waste to be implemented, critics said.
While regulations and incentive programs reduced ag waste in the valley to 125,000 tons in 2022, a near complete phaseout of remaining agricultural open burning in the Valley goes into effect by Jan. 1, 2025.
“Just before the phaseout began, around 25,000 to 30,000 acres of vineyards would be burned per year,” said Heather Heinks, communications manager for San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution District. “That has dropped off significantly since the phaseout and incentive program began.”
Turning Carbon Into Dollars Researchers are trying to find out if what’s waste to some can become a valuable input for others in a novel approach to the problem.
“We want to prevent those emissions and turn that carbon into dollars,” said Blake Simmons, division director, biological systems and engineering at Berkeley Lab, a leading tech partner in the project.
Schmidt Sciences (a group funded by climate activist and philanthropist Wendy Schmidt and husband Eric Schmidt, who was the CEO of Google) and the Foundation for Food & Agriculture (FFAR) funded a mapping project which will help those looking for available waste sources under its Virtual Institute on Feedstocks of the Future (VIFF) to transform biomass into alternative feedstocks for biomanufacturing.
“Carbon is all around us, whether it’s the byproduct of an orchard harvest or solid waste from cities, but right now, it’s too expensive to extract and use,” said Dr. Genevieve Croft, Schmidt Sciences program scientist who is directing VIFF. “Turning the carbon we have into the carbon we want is a critical challenge. VIFF aims to accelerate the timeline of the science needed through interdisciplinary research collaboration.”
This virtual institute is planting its seeds on fertile ground where industry players are already lining up, said Warner.
“BEAM Circular is launching a variety of services for Central Valley byprod- uct startups in the coming months, including an accelerator program,” Warner said. “We have raised over $16 million in seed funds since our launch in 2023 to support the growing circular bioeconomy sector in the Central Valley in addition to the Schmidt Sciences $9.7-million investment in the joint BioCircular Valley project. This funding is a combination of county, state, federal and private sector grants and indicates the growing commitment and support for this industry and recognition of the unique opportunity for the valley to serve as a hub for new innovations in use of agricultural byproducts.”
BEAM Circular’s partner, Carmel Valley-based venture capital firm Hawk Tower, announced in September it is committing $30 million in venture capital to biocircular startups in the North San Joaquin Valley over the coming decade.
E. & J. Gallo Winery is among the wineries BEAM Circular and the virtual feedstock project staff have been holding discussions with.
BEAM Circular, funded by the Virtual Institute on Feedstocks of the Future, received more than $9 million for a digital mapping project which will help those looking for available waste sources to transform biomass into alternative feedstocks for biomanufacturing (courtesy Lawrence Berkeley Lab.)
Multi-Crop Waste Combo Is Unique: “An Opportunistic Paradigm”
What makes the Central Valley unique is the diversity of crops and waste streams, experts said. But currently there is no inventory of these wastes.
That’s the problem the virtual feedstocks project is aimed at addressing: centralizing all the information about available ag wastes together in a database-driven map, or “digital bioeconomy cartography,” so buyers can find out about the timing and volume of available materials.
While finding new uses for ag waste isn’t new, combining a variety of ag waste is, Simmons said.
“So, you’re not talking like the conventional sense of one feedstock that has to be available at a certain tonnage that goes into one product, that one product only, and then you’re locked into that business model,” he said. Examples of that include corn stover converted to ethanol or corn grain converted to ethanol.
“What we’re trying to do is challenge that conventional wisdom and develop technologies that can handle mixed inputs, that take winery waste, ag waste, almond waste, municipal solid waste… and blend them and then convert them. So it’s an opportunistic paradigm that’s really rooted in fundamental science and technology. We’re trying to challenge the conventional wisdom out there. We’re just here to prove what’s possible. And then it’s up to the marketplace to prove what’s practical,” he said.
“The whole project is geared around taking a look at available ag resources in north San Joaquin Valley. So we talked with folks like Gallo. We’ve talked to other wineries as well,” he said.
“We are looking at winery waste which could be trimmings, clippings and grape pomace… So it’s basically those waste streams that are increasingly being paid attention to in California because they don’t want to burn ag residues anymore, for example.
“We see there’s a big opportunity to prove what can be done with them beyond composting, instead being made into something that others use to create products that can be sold out in the marketplace.”
“Feedstocks from agricultural residues, like corn stover, or forestry residues, like sawdust, have potential to become useful products, though the process to get there can be logistically and financially challenging,” said FFAR scientific program director Dr. John Reich. “VIFF focuses on driving collaboration to catalyze innovative solutions.”
The 1-inch-long lanternfly isn’t actually a fly but a planthopper in the Hemiptera order (photo courtesy University of Maryland.)
When a few viable spotted lanternfly eggs attached to giant artwork survived cleaning in Nevada and made it to Sonoma County earlier this year, it sent shivers through the California winegrape industry.
“It was terrifying to know it got in,” said California Association of Winegrape Growers (CAWG) President Natalie Collins. “Once that happened, we really wanted to make sure everyone was aware of the pest, every part of its life cycle and just understand what to be on the lookout for.”
CAWG had been actively educating its members for some time describing the lanternfly’s threat to the industry and how to identify the pest. But Collins said the hitchhiking egg masses prompted the association to ramp up its efforts. CAWG sent out a press release to alert the general public as well, and several media outlets picked up on it.
Continuing to spread the word is just part of preparing for the pest’s arrival, since it’s not a matter of if it will arrive but when, she said.
Since 2000, state and county agricultural inspectors have checked more than 2,000 sites across the state, including rail yards, highway rest stops and fairgrounds, for the spotted lanternfly (SLF) without finding it. During 2023, state inspectors checked an additional 300 high-risk sites in 31 counties between August and December when adult lanternflies are most active.
The tree of heaven, itself an invasive species from Taiwan and China, is the preferred host for lanternflies, including these nymphs, until late in the season (photo by Richard Gardner, bugwood.org.)
As part of the state’s action plan, the CDFA enacted an exterior quarantine in 2021 that prohibits introduction of SLF into the state. Included in the regulations are inspection protocols and restrictions on materials coming from states with known SLF populations.
USDA researchers continue to study potential biological control agents as well as develop pheromone lures for use in monitoring traps. And UC Riverside researchers just wrapped up research into a potential parasitoid wasp.
Throughout it all, Collins said CAWG continues to advocate for research funding both at the state and federal level. In addition, the Pierce’s Disease/Glassy-winged Sharpshooter Board recently funded two lanternfly projects.
One led by UC Davis Plant Pathologist Neil McRoberts will involve preparing for SLF arrival with a focus on area-wide responses. The other, led by Plant Virologist Christina Rosa of Penn State University, plans to examine the interactions of SLF and Pierce’s disease.
Spotted lanternflies infest a white wine grape variety in a Pennsylvania vineyard (photo by Heather Leach, Penn State University.)
Crystal Ball Predictions The recent wakeup call involved a 30-foot-tall metal art installation coming from New York state laden with SLF eggs. The CDFA Truckee border inspection station found the eggs and sent the artwork back to Nevada for hot power washing with detergent. Even so, three egg masses still snuck past reinspection and made their way to the piece’s final destination, Sonoma County. During another inspection, which involved taking the metal artwork apart, Sonoma County agricultural commissioner inspectors found the additional viable egg masses and destroyed them.
When SLF will arrive in California in earnest is anyone’s guess, although a computer model developed by North Carolina State University’s Biological Invasions group offers some estimates. Published in 2022, the model forecasted a low probability of the pest arriving on the West Coast by 2027, assuming no treatments to control the population occur. There’s a high probability SLF will reach the West by 2033 under the same assumptions.
One of the challenges with these types of model results, said Senior Research Scholar Chris Jones, is they quickly need to be updated.
“The interesting aspect of working with invasive species and modeling is what you know to be true changes quickly after the paper is published because the science changes so quickly,” Jones said.
Information available when they ran the model theorized SLF could only reproduce successfully on its preferred host, tree of heaven. Since then, he said scientists have found the pest also can successfully reproduce on black walnut and grapes. The Biological Invasions group plans to update and rerun the SLF prediction model with the new data.
Tree of heaven is the preferred host for both the spotted lanternfly and brown marmorated stink bug. The invasive tree grows readily in disturbed ground, such as along road rights of ways, under power lines, in vacant lots and in vineyards, such as the one pictured here (photo courtesy Lodi Wine Growers.)
Proactive Biological Control After being surprised by Asian citrus psyllid numbers that exploded in Los Angeles basin residential areas in the early 2010s, Mark Hoddle wondered about taking more proactive approaches to future invasive pest infestations. As director of UC Riverside’s Center for Invasive Species Research, his area of expertise involves finding natural enemies that can help control invasive species.
“What I learned was it took us several years to get those natural enemies into California,” Hoddle said, referring to Asian citrus psyllid. “I talked to CDFA and told them, ‘After dealing with ACP, I think we need to be better prepared. There are obviously threats coming to California, and SLF is one of those. We’d be fooling ourselves to assume they could never come here.’”
He proposed a concept known as “proactive biological control,” which involves searching for and testing potential biological control candidates before a pest’s arrival. This is an about-face from past practices, when researchers would wait until an invasive species arrived in California even though it was established and spreading throughout other parts of the U.S. Then they’d begin work to find predators and parasitoids and test their compatibility and environmental safety.
Hoddle is wrapping up a three-year CDFA-funded project that examined whether a minute stingless wasp, Anastatus orientalis, found in SLF’s native habitat in China could potentially be used to help control the pest once it arrives in California.
Considered an egg parasitoid, female wasps lay their eggs in SLF eggs. The wasp eggs hatch and the larvae develop inside, eventually killing the SLF eggs and emerging as adults.
Adult lanternflies will lay masses containing 30 to 60 eggs on numerous inanimate objects, including grapevine trunks. The egg masses, to the left of the adult insects in this image, resemble dabs of dried mud (photo by Heather Leach, Penn State University.)
As with any biological control candidate, researchers put A. orientalis through a battery of tests to ensure it would only go after SLF and wouldn’t negatively affect native lanternflies or other non-target insect species.
In tests conducted at UC Riverside’s Insectary and Quarantine Facility, Hoddle said the wasp had too wide a host range and also oviposited in eggs of native Southwestern lanternflies, stinkbugs and various Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths). USDA colleagues on the East Coast conducted similar screenings.
“After a lot of testing both on the East and West Coasts, we came to the conclusion it attacked way too many species,” Hoddle said.
Although A. orientalis failed the screenings, he still considered the work successful. “At least we’ll be better prepared than if we had done nothing,” Hoddle said. “It would take us about three years to figure this stuff out, so we’re already ahead. We can use that biocontrol money and resources for other things to manage SLF.”
USDA researchers in the East continue to look at another small wasp native to parts of China: Dryinus browni. This small stingless parasitoid goes after second- and third-instar SLF nymphs.
Adult lanternflies feed on a commercial grapevine (photo by Heather Leach, Penn State University.)
Get to Know the ‘Hitchhiking Vampire’
Sometimes dubbed the “hitchhiking vampire,” the spotted lanternfly (SLF) is not actually a fly but a planthopper in the order Hemiptera. It sucks sap from plants, including grapevines and apple, cherry, almonds and stone fruit trees, weakening them.
In severe infestations, it may kill grapevines. Altogether, the pest has a host range of more than 100 agricultural and ornamental plants. Topping the host list is tree of heaven, itself an invasive species from the SLF’s homeland of Taiwan and China.
Spotted lanternfly also excretes sugary honeydew, which attracts black sooty mold that can block the sun’s rays and reduce photosynthesis. And Penn State research, which has not yet been peer reviewed, showed the pest potentially can vector the Xylella fastidiosa bacterium responsible for Pierce’s disease.
SLF was first detected in the U.S. in Pennsylvania in 2014, although it my have been there for a few years prior. Since then, the pest has spread westward and so far has been confirmed in 20 states all west of the Mississippi River.
SLF is not a strong flier, preferring to hop, and much of its dispersion has been aided by movement of egg masses laid on countless inanimate objects, including outdoor furniture, equipment, tools, automobiles, toys, recreational vehicles, rail boxcars and even artwork.
A 2020 Penn State University study estimated SLF was responsible for $554 million in annual crop losses and nearly 5,000 job losses per year where it’s established in the Northeast. High on its list of preferred hosts are grapevines, and Pennsylvania grape growers have reported losing thousands of vines to the pest.
Educating California residents about the pest and its threats is an ongoing effort. Among those leading the charge is UCCE. During a recent lunchtime Zoom meeting, more than 300 mostly Master Gardeners logged on to listen to UC IPM Advisor Cindy Kron, who’s based in Sonoma County. She talked about how to identify SLF, its habitat, its relation to tree of heaven and what to do if they suspect the pest.
CDFA also continues to promote “Snag it. Snap it. Report it.” Basically, if you see a pest you suspect is SLF, capture it, take a photo and report it to the local farm advisor or ag commissioner’s office.
And Mark Hoddle, director of the UC Riverside Center for Invasive Species Research, said he checks iNaturalist almost daily to see if anybody has posted images of SLF or other invasive pests in California. An online community of citizen scientists, iNaturalist.org hosts more than 207 million observations from more than 3.3 million observers worldwide.
For more information on spotted lanternfly, visit CDFA’s SLF pest profile at https://tinyurl.com/y8zunsfz.
Distribution map of the Point Fire, which burned 1,207 acres atop Bradford Mountain overlooking Dry Creek Valley on June 16 (photo courtesy CalFire.)
As harvest begins and the fire season approaches, wineries are steeling themselves for what’s to come, hoping to get their grapes harvested before wildfire risks increase. Many have prepared, mitigated and are monitoring.
CalFire reports there were 5,383 wildfires so far this year with 827,880 acres burned. More than half of those acres were in the Park Fire, with 429,000 acres, which started more than a month ago on July 24.
The state agency reported, “While the number of fires in the state is keeping pace with the five-year average, the number of acres burned is much higher than the five-year average. Climate predictions are indicating above-normal temperatures for all of California, resulting in an abnormally high fire risk for the remainder of the year.”
Mitigation Success Story in Dry Creek Valley
One winery, Bella Vineyards, found out preparing with the help of a wildfire contractor paid off this year when the Point Fire that burned 1,207 acres atop Bradford Mountain overlooking Dry Creek Valley on June 16. Dozens of wineries lay below the fire and workers and residents were evacuated. At least one mountaintop vineyard, Lago di Merlo Vineyards, was damaged by CalFire’s fire retardant. Owner Harry Merlo Jr. said 20% of his 100 acres were covered in pink retardant.
But the team at Bella Vineyards was more fortunate, said their insurance agent Liz Bishop of Petaluma-based Hefferan Insurance Services, thanks to preparation, training and the services of a professional wildfire contractor, the insurer’s partner, Ember Defense.
While most wineries are aware they should get rid of wildfire fuel around their property, attractive landscaping is not always as suspect. But those picturesque Italian cypress climbing up the winery walls have got to go, Bishop said.
“Maybe traditionally that’s been something that really helped them identify their Italian heritage, but those things are really, really flammable. They have high oil content. And they literally have to be removed from the property because they are just candles.”
In addition, wineries should limb up, or maintain a space between the lowest tree branches and the ground or shrubs. As CalFire advises on its website, “Allow extra vertical space between shrubs and trees. Lack of vertical space can allow a fire to move from the ground to the brush to the treetops like a ladder.”
Bishop said new high-powered sprinklers (FireBozz is one brand), Vulcan vents and gutter guards are also essentials. “What a lot of wineries are doing is getting appropriate water on-site, and then they’re spraying these powerful sprinklers that can shoot 300 feet. And what that does is increase humidity… That humidity increase makes the fire stop. And that’s really a powerful effect,” she said.
She credits this technique with saving her client, Bella Vineyards,’ structures. The team started up their sprinklers about four hours before the fire came close to their property.
“One of the reasons that Bella was so on point was they knew this fire was coming at them. Amber Wildfire Defense has a special software that allows them to know in advance how many hours it will be until it actually comes to a property. This is the exact software used by CalFire and PG&E. And then they go out and they actually help with a response, getting the winery’s team set up with their FireBozz sprinkler systems and helping them set up and stage to actually help them make sure the fire doesn’t end up burning their structures.”
Like other wildfire defense companies, Ember Defense’s website sells as well as rents tools and supplies.
Vulcan vents are also critical equipment to install, Bishop said. “If an errant ember comes in, either during an active wildfire at the property or if it’s floating through the air, it could be just waiting to take down a winery. That’s what happened at Soda Rock Winery.” That Alexander Valley winery was destroyed in the 2018 Kincaid Fire which burned 66,231 acres.
An ember from the June Point Fire drifted across Dry Creek Valley and burned a residence 1.5 miles away, outside the evacuation area.
Today, Bradford Mountain’s burn scars look somewhat dark and ominous. But it’s already burned and there’s no fuel left. Residents say they were lucky. But the fire showed being prepared is the best approach to future wildfires risks.
Dr. Alireza Pourreza collecting grape leaf hyperspectral reflectance using a backpack spectrometer equipped with a leaf clipper and looking at the measurement in real time (all photos courtesy A. Pourreza.)
Accurate nitrogen monitoring andappropriate nitrogen management are crucial in California due to the state’s unique environmental challenges and agricultural practices. N is essential for crop growth, but excessive use can lead to serious environmental issues, including groundwater contamination and the emission of nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas. The Central Valley, a major agricultural area, has seen significant N inputs from both synthetic fertilizers and manure, leading to widespread nitrate pollution in groundwater, a critical issue since many communities rely on groundwater for drinking. To address these challenges, California has enacted regulations that require more precise N applications aligned with crop needs. This initiative aims to reduce the amount of excess N that can leach into groundwater or run off into surface waters. The regulations, such as those detailed by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board, include requirements for growers to submit Nitrogen Management Plans that report both the N applied and the N removed by harvested crops. This approach helps calculate N use efficiency and identify areas where improvements are necessary.
Overfertilization poses several risks to both plants and the environment. In plants, excess N can cause stress and overproduction of leaves, making them more susceptible to diseases. It can also reduce yield and decrease quality, including organoleptic quality, and reduce the content of mineral nutrients and secondary metabolites. Additionally, high nitrate content in leaves can be harmful. Environmentally, excess N that remains unused in the soil can leach below the root zone or be lost through run-off, leading to nitrate accumulation in natural water bodies. This can cause algal blooms, eutrophication and acidification of freshwater lakes and coastal areas. Nitrate-contaminated drinking water requires expensive treatments, and nitrous oxide emissions from denitrification and manure decomposition processes on agricultural sites contribute to global warming. These emissions also negatively impact terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.
Conversely, N deficiency negatively affects photosynthetic assimilation and reduces crop yield both in terms of quantity and quality. It restricts the development and growth of roots, suppresses lateral root initiation, increases the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio within the plant, reduces photosynthesis and results in early leaf senescence. Therefore, monitoring N levels accurately and managing them precisely is essential for maintaining the health of both crops and the environment, particularly in California, where agricultural practices must align with stringent environmental regulations.
Leaf Spectrometry Leaf spectrometry is a powerful technique used to measure the spectral reflectance of plant leaves across a wide range of wavelengths. This process involves collecting hyperspectral data, which refers to the reflected light from leaves. Each leaf has a unique spectral signature that changes based on its biochemical and biophysical properties, such as leaf pigments, protein and carbon-based contents, and moisture content. By analyzing these spectral signatures, researchers can infer various properties of the leaves, which provides valuable insights into the plant’s health and nutritional status.
Several tools are commonly used to measure leaf spectral reflectance. One of the primary instruments is a spectrophotometer, which can capture detailed reflectance data across different wavelengths. Portable leaf spectrometers, used in many studies, offer a more convenient and flexible option for field measurements. These tools are designed to be lightweight and easy to use, making it possible to collect high-quality spectral data directly from the plants in their natural environment. By utilizing these advanced tools, researchers and growers can obtain precise information about leaf properties, enabling more accurate monitoring and management of plant health and nutrient levels.
The process to create a mechanistic remote sensing model. In order from left to right, this involves spectral analytics at the leaf level, a nitrogen prediction model, scaling up the leaf-level knowledge to generate a canopy-level radiative transfer model that simulates the spectral characteristics of vine and retrieves plant traits, and a nitrogen status map that illustrates the spatial variability of plant nitrogen contents in a field.
Practical Application and Implementation Imaging spectroscopy and leaf spectrometry have vast potential applications in agriculture, particularly for N management in vineyards. These technologies allow growers to monitor vine health and nutrient status accurately, providing essential data that can lead to more precise and efficient decision-making and farming practices. Detailed spectral data reveals changes in leaf biochemical and biophysical properties, some of which are indicative of the vine’s N content.
Spectral modeling approaches for N retrieval have evolved significantly. Traditional methods often relied on simple correlations between basic vegetation indices or specific wavelengths and N levels. While these methods were quick, they could be overly simplistic. Modern approaches utilize advanced techniques, such as chemometrics and machine learning algorithms, to analyze spectral data. Chemometrics involves using statistical methods to extract meaningful information from complex spectral data, providing more accurate and comprehensive insights into N levels. Machine learning algorithms have become increasingly popular. These models can process large datasets and learn intricate patterns, offering high accuracy and robustness in N estimation.
Alternatively, physically based models, or radiative transfer models (RTMs), simulate the mechanism of light interaction with plant tissues to estimate biochemical/biophysical properties. These models are highly accurate and consistent and can be applied across various conditions, though they require detailed input data and calibration. Combining RTM with machine learning techniques, creating hybrid models, can further enhance their accuracy and applicability. Hybrid models use detailed simulations from RTMs to train machine learning algorithms, resulting in systems that can adapt to different environmental conditions and crop types. Implementing these advanced spectral sensing techniques in vineyards involves several practical steps. First, growers need to collect hyperspectral data from their crops using either portable ground-based spectrometers or aerial spectral cameras. This data is then analyzed using one of the above modeling approaches, whether it’s chemometrics, machine learning or a hybrid method. Depending on the modeling approach, the results can potentially provide detailed insights into the N status of the vines, allowing for precise and targeted fertilizer applications.
Case Study We conducted a study to compare various analytical methods for N retrieval in grapevine leaves using hyperspectral data. Our primary goal was to determine the most effective approach for accurately and consistently estimating leaf N levels, considering both purely data-driven empirical methods and more sophisticated mechanistic models like PROSPECT and hybrid modeling techniques.
N in plants is primarily found in proteins, which are critical for various physiological processes. Proteins in the leaves contribute significantly to the N content, making the measurement of protein levels a consistent indicator of N status. Traditional methods often rely on the relationship between chlorophyll content and N, but this approach can be misleading due to the small proportion of N in chlorophyll and the dynamic nature of N allocation within the plant.
Empirical methods, such as those using simple vegetation indices like the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the Normalized Difference Red Edge (NDRE), have been widely used for estimating N content. However, these indices often fall short of providing accurate and consistent results for vine N content. NDVI and NDRE are sensitive to changes in chlorophyll content but do not capture the full complexity of N dynamics within the plant. Their reliance on a few spectral bands can lead to inaccuracies, particularly under varying environmental conditions and growth stages.
The PROSPECT model simulates how light interacts with leaf tissues, providing a more detailed and physically based approach to estimating N content. By incorporating specific absorption coefficients for proteins, PROSPECT can more accurately represent the biochemical processes within the leaves. This model showed robustness and transferability across different conditions but requires full band (400 to 2500 nm) and well-calibrated spectral data.
Hybrid modeling combines the strengths of both artificial intelligence and physically based approaches. By using detailed simulations from PROSPECT to train machine learning algorithms, hybrid models can achieve higher accuracy and adaptability. These models leverage the comprehensive understanding of light interactions provided by PROSPECT and the flexibility and learning capacity of machine learning techniques.
The advantages and disadvantages of four different spectral modeling approaches:
• Vegetation Indices (NDVI, NDRE, etc.): quick and easy to use but often inaccurate and inconsistent for detailed N estimation.
• Empirical Data-Driven Methods (Machine Learning): high accuracy with large datasets but can be prone to overfitting and may require extensive training data.
• Physically Based Models (PROSPECT): highly accurate and robust but complex and data-intensive.
• Hybrid Models: combines the best of both worlds, offering high accuracy and adaptability with a solid physical basis.
Our study demonstrated while traditional vegetation indices are useful for general assessments, they are insufficient for precise N management in vineyards. Advanced methods like RTM and hybrid models provide a more reliable and detailed understanding of N dynamics, paving the way for more effective and sustainable vineyard management practices. By leveraging these advanced analytical techniques, vineyard managers can optimize N use, improve crop health and reduce environmental impacts. If adopted by growers, this data-driven, decision-making vineyard management approach will support compliance with stringent environmental regulations, promote sustainability, drive the future of precision agriculture and optimize crop production.
Resources
The peer-reviewed paper: sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0034425723005187#f0005
Though it’s still a niche category, boxed wine from established, artisanal, boutique wineries like Tablas Creek or entrepreneurial boxed wine-only startups is hitting the market (photo courtesy Tablas Creek Vineyard.)
Move over big-brand boxed wines, there’s a new kid on the shelf. And it appears to be the higher-priced spread. Though it’s still a niche category, boxed wine from established, artisanal, boutique wineries (think Bedrock, Ryme Cellars and Tablas Creek) or entrepreneurial boxed wine-only startups (Juliet and Really Good Boxed Wine) is hitting the market. Though their sales are small (up to 10,000 cases for one of the startups), there’s growing consumer excitement in ditching the glass bottle yet still drinking more upscale wine.
During the pandemic, big-brand boxed wine sales grew quickly, with volume sales increasing 30% between 2018 and 2023. Consumers like its convenience. They can drink a glass or two at a time and never feel guilty when the rest of a glass bottle of wine goes bad. Boxed wine not only weighs less, reducing shipping costs, but compared to a glass bottle of wine, the carbon emissions are 84% less, experts say.
Better-quality boxed wine has been very widely accepted in Europe. French authorities report 44% of French wine is sold in boxes. Swedish wine drinkers drink more boxed than bottled wine.
In the U.S., it’s legal to take boxed wine to parks and pools where alcohol is permitted but glass is prohibited.
Boxed wine not only weighs less, reducing shipping costs, but compared to a glass bottle of wine, the carbon emissions are 84% less, experts say (photo courtesy Juliet.)
Co-Packers’ Bag Filling Operations Scale Down to Lower Minimums For small to medium wineries in the U.S., boxed wine production is fanning out into more tiers of wine production.
In the early days, artisanal entrants like Bedrock, Rhyme Cellars, Tablas Creek and Winery Sixteen 600 spent days hand-filling plastic bags in their first boxed wine releases. Now, producers are migrating to Napa-based co-packers who have automated or semi-automated bag filling lines. Those facilities now will do boxed wine runs with minimums starting at around 1,200 cases. One producer is even doing a run of 600 cases.
“We’re seeing twice as many customers in terms of the number of clients.” said Max Franks of Sonoma Bespoke Services, which despite its name is now located in Napa. “It’s red hot.”
Entrepreneurs Launching New Boxed Wine-Only Brands Leading the pack in the race to catch the better boxed wine wave at scale are two boxed wine-only entrepreneurial companies: Juliet, focused on female wine lovers looking for a bit of luxury, and Really Good Boxed Wines, which offers vineyard or sub-appellation designated wines for lower prices than equivalent wine in glass bottles.
Juliet’s tag line is “Boxed Wine Reimagined,” and it puts a little bit of a luxury spin on its wines, partnering with MGM resorts who feature it poolside. Started by two New York City friends, Juliet sells 1.5-litre boxed wine ($35) made by a partner in Santa Barbara County.
The brand’s hook? The packaging. The bags are housed inside cylindrical cardboard cases, festooned with Mediterranean imagery, and a little rope carry handle. The shape was inspired by liquor gift boxes that co-founder Allison Luvera was familiar with when she managed luxury spirits brands for Pernod Ricard.
The box also features a handy way to keep wine cool: a space inside the box to put ice or freezable pouches. Luvera says this feature was designed to keep white or rosé wines chilled poolside or on the go at soccer games and other outdoor events.
Really Good Boxed Wine is another new entrant in the boxed wine-only category. It’s betting on single-vineyard or sub-appellated wines to differentiate and anchor the brand. Founded by Jake Whitman, an investor with a history in managing consumer brands at Proctor & Gamble, and Amy Troutman, a wine industry veteran consultant, it’s the only boxed wine committed to single-vineyard or sub-appellated wines.
Both brands are finding online consumers are not only receptive but enthusiastically embracing boxed wines for convenience and quality. Both companies report repeat business is strong. According to Troutmiller, almost 40% of Really Good Boxed Wine’s online customers reorder wines.
Blueprint of broken-down boxed wine design used by Field Recordings Wine out of Pasa Robles (photo courtesy Field Recordings.)
How Small- and Medium-Sized Wineries Can Get into Boxed Wine Wineries can now opt to package their current wines in bag in box format using a co-packer who takes care of the bag filling aspect and keeps the wine sound in the process. Automated systems like the one at Sonoma Bespoke Beverages produce the highest quality but have restrictions on nonconforming box shapes. Alternatively, Infinity Bottling in Napa with semi-automated filling can accommodate irregular box shapes. Both have been highly recommended by clients, including Field Recordings (for Bespoke) and Tablas Creek (for Infinity).
While ready-to-drink beverages like agave margaritas get the lion’s share of private labels, for instance, there’s room for a lot more variation in the marketplace, experts say. “We’re seeing a lot more premium wine going into bag in box,” Franks said. “Some are in the $60 to $80 range.”
Producers are migrating to Napa-based co-packers who have automated or semi-automated bag filling lines. Those facilities now will do boxed wine runs with minimums starting at around 1,200 cases (photo courtesy Smith Devereux Winery.)
Andrew Jones at Field Recordings sells his orange wine, Skins, under his Boxie label and is increasing production to 4,000 cases this year. That’s 60% more this year than last year. He recommends a minimum commitment of 1,200 cases for a start.
Box design is another part of creating a boxed-wine brand. The box gives brands lots of space to communicate the brand’s messages, tout boxed wine’s advantages and educate consumers on why boxed wine is better.
Talley Vineyards CEO Brian Talley’s focus has shifted over the years toward a Direct-to-Consumer approach that uses data management and analysis to optimize marketing communications.
The past 30 years have seen incredible developments in technology and communication. It has never been easier to create, share and implement innovative ideas thanks to the interconnectedness of people and industries across the globe.
Innovation is more than a buzzword; it’s a strategic principal companies use to exceed the status-quo. These businesses seek inspiration from various sources, including the latest research and technology, their own data and industry peers. Successful businesses are willing to adapt their practices to meet changing needs.
As consumer preferences and market demands evolve rapidly, businesses must follow suit to stay competitive. Failure to do so brings risk of obsolescence while others in the industry embrace new technology and strategies, allowing them to stay relevant and able to deliver on higher expectations. In fact, companies that actively promote a culture of innovation are 3.5 times more likely to outperform their peers (McKinsey 2022).
Companies that embrace evolution have greater potential to streamline operations and enhance customer experiences. Their willingness and ability to question if current practices are optimal are crucial for sustained growth and relevance.
Part of being a sustainably minded business means adapting to change. In the field and across their teams, Talley Vineyards in Arroyo Grande, Calif. thrives on adaptation and innovation.
Talley Vineyards CEO Brian Talley implements a less-is-more winemaking philosophy as a component of being a sustainably minded business (all photos courtesy Talley Vineyards.)
Technology in Agronomy As a component of Talley Vineyards’ less-is-more winemaking philosophy, they use native yeasts for fermentation. A healthy environment is crucial for yeasts to thrive, and Talley’s minimal-intervention approach in the vineyard ensures their wine can exemplify the unique attributes of the land and the season.
But each growing season brings different challenges. If tasks aren’t timed properly, extra labor and chemical inputs are needed to combat diseases and remedy damages. Brian Talley, CEO of Talley Vineyards, learned getting behind in the vineyard can necessitate additional movement and intervention that hinders the delicate dance of ecological activity on which the yeasts depend.
Some of these challenges arise during wet cool-spring years with lower temperatures and reduced solar intensity. Dense canopies shield berries from sufficient light penetration, compromising development and ripening. Furthermore, mildew pressure increases in these conditions, and a lack of adequate airflow puts leaves and berries at risk.
Vineyard stewards must time cultural practices appropriately to ensure light and air move through the vines before damage sets in. Talley Vineyards represents 129 acres, with a large portion of the vines planted on hills. For a vineyard crew of 17, it isn’t practical to rely solely on human hands to care for the vines during critical times like these.
A few years ago, Talley Vineyards invested in a leafing machine to increase efficiency in this weighty task. The machine covers many acres in a short amount of time and quickly removes excess foliage. While effective for some blocks, the attention of skilled hands is required for others.
Their tenured crew is familiar with each block’s unique characteristics. With the machine, they can tailor their methods to fit each block’s needs; some are only mechanized, others are strictly cared for by hand, and a portion receives both methods.
Because they understand each year is unique, Talley Vineyards adapted their growing practices. The leafing machine helps the crew maintain a healthy environment during the cool spring years that are conducive to both yeast preservation and disease mitigation.
Eric Johnson, director of viticulture and winemaking operations, participates with Talley Vineyard employees in winemaker field trips to sample creations and share insights. He said one such trip inspired the team to experiment with varying press-off intervals for their red wines.
Innovation in Communication The service industry is no stranger to digital data management. Reservations, sales and customer interactions are common metrics to keep on record for planning and development. But in recent years, the sophistication of technology has boomed, and so has the potential of the data collected.
Oftentimes, this data sits in an archive. It’s an untapped resource for insights into customer preferences and behaviors. With investigation, analysis and collaboration, businesses can use this data to better understand and better serve their loyal fan base.
While Talley started his career as a grower, his responsibilities have shifted over the years. Today, he focuses his time in the space of Direct-to-Consumer sales and engagement. In 2019, he realized he hadn’t fully explored his bank of data as a resource to inform marketing decisions. He decided to seek help from an experienced professional.
After he enlisted a marketing director who pointed out ways to optimize their marketing communications based on trends in their data, Talley was inspired to devote more resources to build out their digital data operation. Now, Talley Vineyards utilizes a third-party program that puts key metrics into daily dashboards for the team to review. His team compares metrics to previous years and brainstorms ways to adapt their processes.
“Data management and analysis is more important than ever,” Talley said. “In the last few years, it’s been a key thing we focus on.”
Eric Johnson, director of viticulture and winemaking operations, appreciates how their marketing has evolved to fit the needs and preferences of their customers. He emphasized the importance of tailoring content to be compatible with people who show interest.
“It would be pointless to market to my grandma; she doesn’t drink, and doesn’t care about wine… If you take a mass approach to marketing, you’re going to miss,” he said.
To put informed marketing efforts into practice, Johnson recommended companies first dive into their data and see what patterns emerge. Then, ask, “Where does it make more sense to target?” Next, tailor content to communicate the preferences desired by each target audience. And finally, let it run and analyze the new data to see if effectiveness has changed.
When companies understand their audience, they are in a better position to address issues and retain valued customers. Through their data-driven insights, Talley Vineyards constantly receives feedback from their efforts and responds with informed content crafting.
Talley Vineyards in Arroyo Grande, Calif. represents 129 acres, with a large portion of the vines planted on hills. The vineyard has implemented operational efficiency measures like the use of a leafing machine so cultural practices are still timed properly on the large area of land.
Inspiration from Collaboration Face-to-face experiences with other members of the industry offer professionals valuable opportunities to share ideas, brainstorm creative solutions and develop novel practices.
Members of Talley Vineyards’ Direct-to-Consumer team and staff leads go on tasting room field trips. While also being team-building activities, the trips inspire the group to learn from other successful brands and bring home ideas for innovation.
“Two examples of takeaways from previous trips are the prominent soils display in the main tasting room, which was inspired by a visit to a prominent Napa Valley winery in the early 2000s, as well as a complimentary splash of wine for every visitor [of age] the moment they set foot onto our property,” said Talley. “The soils display reinforces our core commitment to our sense of place, while the splash of wine sets the tone for friendly and welcoming hospitality.”
Field trips aren’t limited to this group. Before harvest sets in, Talley’s cellar crew likes to visit winemakers in other regions to sample each other’s creations and share insights. One of these collaborative experiences helped Talley Vineyards perfect their press-off intervals.
After returning from a winemaker’s field trip, Johnson and his team were inspired to experiment with varying press-off intervals for their red wines. They ran batches with varying intervals from 10 days up to 45 days. Their trials revealed 30 days led to the best result. Since then, they have transitioned their Syrah and Grenache vinification to that sweet spot.
Research from Harvard Business School found that “companies that are more central [in their relevant communities] have a bigger impact; the innovation they produce is more successful in the marketplace,” (Harvard Business School 2023). Teams who network with industry peers can stay ahead of trends and preferences, learn new strategies to optimize performance and bring back exciting new ideas to experiment with.
Dedication to Innovation
Talley Vineyards remains a top brand in the industry not only for their award-winning wines but because they constantly work toward efficiency and relevance. Their techniques enable them to stay aware of important industry developments and sustain their success.
While wine operations can benefit immensely from change and development, the same can’t be said for native wildlife that inhabit the vineyard. In the next Sustainable Story, learn about an estate winery in Santa Margarita, Calif. that invests in the wellbeing of their furry and feathered friends and offers human guests the opportunity to explore their rugged terrain.
