What wine makers are going after with applied technology and science is a more profitable piece of an already\u00a0sizable\u00a0market. Consumers spent $38 billion on U.S.-made wines alone in 2015 according to the annual Wine Industry Metrics report<\/a> by Wines Vines Analytics.\u00a0Using tech and science to gain every possible advantage can help producers keep their costs and prices down, their environmental footprint small, and their wines as high-quality as possible. More and better data, if analyzed properly, can also help wineries cope with extreme weather, from droughts to floods.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Farmers of every kind have\u00a0used\u00a0government research and data\u00a0from agencies like the\u00a0US Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency in planning and managing their crops. President Donald Trump has required that agencies (including the USDA and EPA) stop releasing their findings to the public until they go through\u00a0administrative reviews and approvals. Although\u00a0most\u00a0farms\u00a0are already paying tech companies and consultants for some of the data that they use to make business decisions,\u00a0the new administration\u2019s\u00a0\u201cgag rules\u201d\u00a0could drive even more\u00a0demand, and\u00a0require farmers\u00a0to spend more time and money\u00a0on technology.<\/p>\n One of the best-known ways to gather agricultural data these days is seen in the skies. Vineyards and other farms have long used camera-strapped planes, helicopters or drones, and data gathered by satellites, to capture what\u2019s going on in their fields below. But there\u2019s an equally exciting new class of sensors, apps, and other hardware used in the fields, too.\u00a0TechCrunch took a tour of some of the major vineyards operated by Treasury Wine Estates in Napa Valley<\/a>\u00a0to get a first hand look at what\u2019s state of the art.<\/p>\n For the unfamiliar, Treasury Wine Estates is the parent company behind some mainstream and critically acclaimed wines including: Beringer,<\/a> Sterling Vineyards<\/a> and Stags\u2019 Leap.<\/a> The wines are produced by separate teams and at distinct vineyards, each with their own processes and approaches.<\/p>\n In some of its vineyards, Treasury Wine Estates uses mobile apps to connect managers with workers in the field; tractors outfitted with high tech systems that allow them to cut away debris, harvest and sort grapes efficiently; ground-based sensors that can gauge the health of their soil or plants, track the weather, and help manage irrigation; and truck-mounted lasers that take precise measurements of vines and leaves.<\/p>\n Treasury Wine Estates Director of Innovation Will Drayton first showed us weather and plant sensors his company is using in select vineyards, which are made by Arable<\/a>. The startup\u2019s\u00a0hardware, called the Pulsepod, may look familiar. It was created in partnership with Fred Bould, who was also behind the Nest thermostat, smoke and carbon monoxide detector, as well as Fitbit, GoPro and Roku products.<\/p>\n![\"Treasury](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rsoftsolution.com\/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/RSSPoster_PRO\/cache\/dc091_treasury_wine_estates_will_drayton.png?resize=640%2C400&ssl=1\")
Treasury Wine Estates Chief of Innovation, Will Drayton.<\/em><\/p>\n