Situation
- A renowned quality-driven winery in California designated $85 per acre to sample grapes over the course of the season, supporting their attempt to better control quality and yield for their premium wine programs.
- The declining sales of the winery’s premium wine programs could no longer justify the costly investment in the vineyard.
- The client was interested in significantly lowering their viticulture operation costs, while still maintaining the same level of control and precision in tracking the vineyards’ development.
Solution
- The client joined the Trellis platform and integrated 330 of their high-quality blocks in three different California appellations.
- Utilizing the Trellis AI-powered Ripening Models that predict the current and projected ripening status on the block-level based on climate conditions, the client observed phenology, sugar and acidity predictions for each of their blocks, updating in real-time throughout the season.
Result
- In general, the 2018 vintage ripened at a slow and steady pace, nearly a month longer than in 2017. In previous years this would have required much more intensive and extensive sampling, increasing the viticulture operation cost per acre by 20%.
- However, the Trellis platform enabled the winery to confidently minimize vineyard sampling by more than 30% saving them more than $85,000 in viticulture costs.
