Wineries and grape growers constantly face new trends, challenges, and continued pressure to stay ahead of the competition and adapt to new consumer demands. Behind the scenes, wine industry suppliers and service providers work to solve these challenges and create new, innovative solutions winemakers and grape growers can use to strengthen their businesses and deliver better products to their customers.
Every year Wine Industry Network recognizes five of these wine industry innovators, not just because of their impressive ingenuity or technical advances, but because the industry as a whole is better for having these innovative companies at their disposal.
The winners of Wine Industry Network’s ninth annual WINnovation Awards for excellence in wine industry innovation are:
AromaLoc
During fermentation, aromas escape the wine through CO2 induced aroma stripping. AromaLoc has a special membrane and vacuum pump that separates out aroma compounds and returns them through the headspace. Creating a high concentration of aroma compounds in the headspace discourages more aroma compounds from escaping the wine, thereby producing a more aromatic and flavorful end-product.
Learn more about AromaLoc at WIN Expo tasting trials and at Enartis’ booth 224.
Article: AromaLoc—Non-intervention Tech to Retain Natural Wine Aromas
Quini
Quini is a product intended to help wineries answer business and product questions with near real-time consumer sensory data. The platform allows wineries to quickly receive consumer feedback without having to set up their own research capabilities. This innovation expands access to valuable business insight beyond the biggest industry players and can help wineries avoid costly mistakes as well as capitalize on market opportunities.
Article: Quini—Data Analytics for Wineries of All Sizes
RedChirp
RedChirp has revolutionized web chat and integrated it with texting, giving wineries the ability to efficiently communicate with their customers in real-time. The platform allows staff to respond to web chat inquiries from their smartphones (without revealing the employees’ personal phone number) and customers to receive the responses as text messages. The system also manages and tracks who responds to inquiries. RedChirp can integrate bulk texting capabilities to make it easier to reach out to multiples members at once, saving administrative time, and making payment and wine club pickups more efficient.
Learn more about RedChirp at WIN Expo booth 99
Article: RedChirp—Connecting Wine Brands with the Modern Consumer
Solectrac
Solectrac puts winegrowers’ commitment to sustainability front-of-mind. The electric tractor fits perfectly between vine rows and are powerful enough to replace traditional tractors with the equivalent of a 70-horsepower motor and the ability to reach full torque at zero miles per hour. In addition to sustainability benefits, Solectrac also makes for a better and safer work environment by cutting noise and exhaust emissions.
Learn more about Solectrac at WIN Expo booth 302
Article: Soletrac—Electric Tractors Fuel Battle against Climate Change
Tule Technologies
Tule Vision by Tule Technologies uses computer vision AI to determine the water stress level in vines. With Tule Vision, any vineyard team member can take photos of the vines or mount an iPhone on their ATV to record images as they drive through the vineyard. The images are transmitted to the cloud, where they are interpreted by the AI and displayed so vineyard managers can easily see the water stress level of each vineyard block in real time. The result: make more efficient, targeted irrigation decisions without having to visit each individual block and vine.
Learn more about Tule Technologies at WIN Expo booth 722
Article: Tule Vision—Water Management with the Touch of a Button
Meet four of these innovative companies at the North Coast Wine Industry Expo (WIN Expo) on December 2, 2021 at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds along with 23 previous WINnovation Award winners and nearly 300 total exhibitors.
