Pest pressure in California wine country shifts with the seasons. Understanding these patterns helps you stay proactive, protecting your facility year-round. Spring: Awakening Activity As temperatures rise, overwintering pests become active. Ants begin foraging, rodents emerge, and birds build nests. Gophers and ground squirrels damage irrigation lines and vine roots. Action: Conduct facility inspections to seal entry points. Address burrowing rodents before populations explode. Install bird deterrents. Summer: Peak Pressure Warm weather brings peak activity for flying insects, ants, spiders, and wasps. Tasting rooms see increased foot traffic that can introduce pests. Action: Maintain rigorous sanitation. Monitor for ant trails. Ensure door sweeps and screens are in good repair. Fall/Crush: The Critical Window Harvest brings the year's highest pest risk. Fruit flies are drawn to fermenting grapes. Rodents seek food and warmth as temperatures drop, infiltrating buildings during your bu

In a tighter wine market, preventable vineyard loss is no longer just an operational headache. It is a margin issue. For many vineyard owners and managers, 2026 is not a year for loose ends. Grape contracts are harder to count on. Buyers are more selective. Some blocks are being farmed with tighter budgets, while others are being looked at with a hard question: does this acreage still make sense? That changes how growers think about loss. Deer browsing along a wooded edge, a low spot under a gate, or recurring animal pressure in one corner of the vineyard may not feel dramatic at first. But when the fruit in that block has a real path to market, even small losses matter more than they used to. “Growers are looking hard at every input right now,” said George Horetsky, senior sales representative at Trident Fence. “If a vineyard block has fruit that is contracted, estate-designated, or otherwise marketable, you can’t afford to lose part of it to a problem you could have prevented.” The b

If you’ve ever walked into the cellar on a hot day and felt that “warm tank room” air hit you in the face, you already know the uncomfortable truth: summer heat doesn’t just raise temperatures—it raises risk . And for non-alcoholic (NA) and low-alcohol wines , that risk climbs even faster. Alcohol is more than a sensory component; it contributes to stability. When it’s reduced or removed, you’re working with a product that can be more delicate, more reactive, and more vulnerable —especially when temperatures drift upward. This is where two practical tools earn their keep: PolarClad tank insulation (and BevClad in the EU) to stabilize tank temperature an

What does that mean for the vintage? Budbreak came early to California this year, which by itself isn’t that strange. There are years when we’ve seen buds start to push by the end of February. But then what started as a warm February gave way to abnormally warm temperatures in March and early April. This accelerated phenological development even more. Traditionally, April 1st is the day when the count starts for growing degree days accumulation. But this year vines in many parts of the state already had more than a foot of growth by then, rendering this yearly measurement fairly useless as a comparison tool. By May 1st, I noticed bunch closure in a Central Coast vineyard…which in the words of the great Stephen Colbert, is just booboo banana bonkers. So what does a crazy early start mean for the vintage? What can we expect and why am I …cautiously optimistic? Water water everywhere… In truth, the growing season for grapes starts well before any buds push at all. I’m talking about winter

Most conversations about AI in agriculture lead nowhere. There is plenty of speculation, plenty of marketing, and very little shared understanding of how AI is actually being used inside real vineyard operations.  There is no manual. No proven tools, and even fewer examples that go beyond theory. That is what makes this story different. Rather than discussing what AI could do someday, this article looks at what happened when a professional vineyard management team, operating at scale and under real economic pressure, put AI to work on the unglamorous parts of their operation: scheduling, coordination, and administrative complexity. The outcome was not what most people would expect. The biggest gains did not come from automation itself, but from what changed once friction was removed from daily work. First, You Have to Start With a Real Problem A vineyard operations leader managing large-scale acreage described a situation many vineyard operators recognize immediately: an operatio

If this year is defined by a singular emotion, it’s anxiety. That’s nothing new in farming, however I’m talking about anxiety over the abysmal grape market rather than any natural phenomenon. Many of us were so busy scrambling for buyers, we may have forgotten to notice just how great the weather has been. Why wouldn’t we get handed a great year when most of us can’t sell any grapes? Let’s look at some numbers My gut feeling was that 2025 was similar to 2023 with a few big differences. 2023 saw some record high rainfall in the winter and early spring throughout California. Even the Paso Robles area got around 21” of rain from July 1st 2022 to July 1st 2023, up from a whopping 6.5” the year prior. That amounted to lots of nice canopy development early in the year and some good yield potential, provided you didn’t get shatter during the chilly springtime. This year however, the Central Coast was back to a measly <7” of rain w

With the conclusion of harvest, it’s easy to shift focus from irrigation. The crops are in, and the season’s busiest time is nearly wrapped. However, the irrigation practices in the immediate post-harvest weeks are crucial for next year’s growth, yield, and quality. Market conditions often tighten budgets, labor availability decreases, and water allocations may already be stretched thin from the season. At the same time, crops are still active beneath the soil line, requiring care to build root strength and store nutrients for the year ahead. Balancing limited resources with the ongoing needs of the crop can feel like a gamble, especially when every decision impacts next year’s performance. How HotSpot AG Helps in Practice Reliable irrigation automation makes all the difference. HotSpot AG’s systems were designed with the understanding that every farm has unique characteristics, such as older pumps, intricate irrigation layouts, and specific site challe

For vineyard owners, harvest season brings both excitement and anxiety. As grapes ripen and sugar levels climb, they become an irresistible target for birds, deer, raccoons, and other hungry visitors. A single flock of starlings or a few persistent deer can cause significant crop loss — not just in volume, but in quality. For growers working tirelessly all season long, these setbacks can be devastating. That’s why more and more vineyards are turning to physical deterrents like netting — a simple yet powerful solution that protects the fruit without compromising the vineyard’s aesthetic or farming practices. At Trident Fence, we’ve worked with growers across the country to provide vineyard netting that’s durable, easy to install, and incredibly effective. Whether you operate a boutique winery or manage acres of vines across varied terrain, netting may be the smartest step you take toward a more secure and profitable harvest. Why Netting Works fo

In today’s wine industry, running lean has become the norm. Wineries are navigating tighter margins, shifting consumer demand, and limited resources all while trying to maintain the exceptional service their customers expect. In a market where every shipment counts, having the right fulfillment partner is not just a convenience, it’s a necessity. At WineDirect Fulfillment, we understand the pressure to do more with less. That’s why we’ve built our operations and tools to support your business through every challenge, helping you protect your brand, deliver a top-tier customer experience, and keep things running smoothly. Choosing the Right Partner  When you're operating with a smaller team and fewer resources, there’s no room for error. Delays in shipping, inventory mishaps, or damaged wine can quickly erode customer trust and impact your brand’s reputation. And with limited time to chase down support or resolve issues, wineries need a par

Frost is far more than just a weather event, it’s a serious threat to any grower’s crop quality, crop yield, and bottom line! Join our free 45-minute webinar to discover how remote environmental monitoring solutions can help. With 24/7 data access and instant alerts when conditions exceed user-set thresholds, you’ll never miss a critical moment to safeguard your harvest from frost damage.   Presented by data logging expert Steven Kizorek, webinar topics include: An overview of the HOBOnet Wireless Sensor Network for agricultural monitoring Predicting frost events using localized monitoring data Remote data access and setting up real-time alerts in the LI-COR Cloud platform Real-world HOBOnet applications, including at vineyards, vegetable farms, and orchards Don’t miss this opportunity to learn how to stay ahead of the weather – with data-driven frost protection. August 21, 2025 at 2pm - 3pm (America/New_York) Register Now