Great wine is often the perfect blend of art and science. Winemakers clearly provide the art and deservedly, receive most of the credit. However, much of the science comes from the collaboration between wineries that are trying to make better wine, growing higher quality grapes and operating more efficiently, and the suppliers that provide the products and services needed to do so. While those companies or schools are rarely talked about in the magazines or wine bars, they are very much an integral player in the quality evolution taking place in the wine industry.
Wine Industry Network is proud to recognize five wine industry suppliers that have contributed to the progress of wine quality, sustainability, and marketing with their innovations. The WINnovation Awards were created to recognize companies or educational institutions for their achievement and their contribution. They represent the vanguard of innovation that is essential for the advancement and prosperity of our wine industry.
This year’s WINnovation winners are:
BlueMorphUV LLC
BlueMorph UV addresses two of the biggest challenges facing the industry, sustainability and water conservation. This new Ultraviolet (UV) sanitation product sanitizes tanks without the use of water or chemicals. Additionally, it requires a fraction of the man hours compared with traditional methods. The BlueMorph UV works by sliding the UV light emitter into the tank or keg and choosing a preprogrammed emission length based on the size of the tank to ensure a thorough sanitation. Exposure to the UV light effectively kills molds and bacteria in the tank. The BlueMorph UV is manufactured by Tom Beard and the first commercial full size BlueMorph UV unit was recently delivered to Jackson Family Wines.
Fruition Sciences Inc
Fruition Sciences provides a powerful analytic tool for monitoring and diagnosing vineyard performances. It draws on data from labs, climate sensors, maps, and cutting-edge sap flow sensors installed directly on the vine to measure in real time and continuously the vine transpiration. This holistic plant-based approach helps the winegrower determine the needs, the response to practices, and to reduce waste while producing the best possible grapes.
G3 Enterprises – Zipz Single Serve Package
G3 Enterprises partnered with Zipz to bring the Zipz Single Serve Package to the wine industry. Consumer habits are evolving and the demand for a single-serve wine package, allowing flexibility, and convenience for the consumer, continues to grow. Investors saw this potential and jumped at it when the concept was first presented on Shark Tank in 2014. Since then Zipz and G3 have developed the next generation of high quality single serve packages and now the advanced bottling line ensures that premium wines stay fresh in eco-friendly PET with patented CleanWrap™ technology ensuring the lowest Total Package Oxygen possible. With Zips wineries have a single serve path to the consumer they can be confident will deliver the wine with the same quality it was made.
Nomacorc – NomaSense PolyScan B200
Last year we recognized Nomacorc for their innovative Select Bio closure, but their pioneering work in oxygen management has also led them into measuring and managing oxygen levels pre- and post-bottling. The NomaSense PolyScan B200 analyzes the phenolic profile of a wine, from an electrochemical measurement of all the oxidizable compounds, and it can be applied directly in the winery, without sample preparation. This ability to measure phenolics at a routine level is crucial in the optimization of winemaking practices with the final aim of improving wine quality.
Vintage 99 Label – iQdio
Faced with massive competition for attention on the wall of wine, what can be done to stand out to the consumer? The new interactive wine labels, iQdio, from Vintage 99 Label allow the consumer to access information about a specific wine directly from their smartphone without having to download an app or navigate a website. Video and audio messages from the winemaker, or tasting and food paring suggestions enhance the consumer’s shopping and drinking experience, and at the same time an online dashboard tracks and provides real-time feedback and marketing analytics to help the brand manager optimize the message. iQdio bridges the gap between traditional wine labels and the next generation of wine drinkers, by engaging them with technology and brand identity.
