Vineyards and wineries face new, growing and shifting challenges each year, whether from the continued pressure to stay ahead of the competition or the need to adapt to new environmental or market conditions. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, wine industry suppliers and service providers continuously work to create new ways of solving problems or seizing new opportunities, using ingenuity and technology to develop innovative solutions for the vineyards and wineries.
“Because of the work we do here at WIN, we have the privilege of seeing the newest products and services on a very regular basis, and we’re continually impressed by the level of innovation,” says Wine Industry Network President George Christie. “In most cases, industry suppliers are the change agents that help winery and vineyard operations impact quality or improve efficiencies. The WINnovation Awards are a way for us to acknowledge the efforts of these suppliers and their contribution to the wine industry.”
The winners of Wine Industry Network’s 11th annual WINnovation Awards for excellence in wine industry innovation are:
- HotSpot AG
- Lumo
- Onafis
- Revida Water
- VinWizard
Short introductions to the specific innovations from the winners that merited their recognition will be revealed, one at a time, over the next week.
HotSpot AG
HotSpot AG has demonstrated remarkable innovation in the field of agriculture with their 53 GPH Variable Rate Fertigation Skid. This product has the potential to revolutionize the approach to nutrient management and resource utilization. Growers can now customize applications down to each vineyard block. Fertigation events are automatically recorded for convenient and accurate reporting.
Learn more about HotSpot AG at WIN Expo booth 813.
HotSpot AG — Taking the Mystery Out of the Fertigation Process
Lumo
Lumo is a California based irrigation technology company that supports growers and tackles water challenges head on using advanced water technology. Lumo built the industry’s first smart irrigation valve, called Lumo One, and accompanying software that makes scheduling irrigations dead easy, because we saw firsthand how complicated and time-consuming that task was with older controller-based automation systems that relied on outdated technologies.
Learn more about Lumo WIN Expo booth 516 and hear from Lumo co-founder and CEO Devon Wright in the conference session “Irrigation Accountability: Cutting Edge Tech to Increase Efficiency & Lower Costs” .
Onafis
Thanks to its connected sensors and intelligent data, ONAFIS offers the first decision-support tools enabling wineries to adapt their actions and inputs with significant gains in energy consumption and handling. Wineries can control wine in the cellar and vat room key parameters in real time to optimize energy performance, with a 30% reduction in energy consumption.
Learn more about Onafis at WIN Expo booth 131.
Onafis — Real-Time Tracking and Monitoring of Wine During Fermentation
Revida Water
Unlike conventional methods of winery wastewater treatment that involve multiple vendors, upfront capital expenditures exceeding $2 million, and lengthy installation periods, Leef Water simplifies the entire process. We design, build, install, operate, and maintain wastewater treatment systems for wineries, demanding $0 upfront costs. Our unique proposition ensures that clients only pay when we deliver on our promises, guaranteeing water treated to their precise standards.
Learn more about Revida Water at WIN Expo booth 818.
Revida Water — Democratizing Wastewater Treatment by Updating the Rules of Possibility
VinWizard
VinWizard’s Multi-Sensor Probe (MSP) builds on the prior successes of its Multi-Level Probe, which debuted in New Zealand about a decade ago and began making headlines in the U.S. wine industry in 2018 . Having achieved global success with the MLP, it was time to take a stab at addressing one of the biggest opportunities during harvest, providing real-time Brix (density) measurement during fermentation.
Learn more about VinWizard at WIN Expo booth 418.
VinWizard — Delivering Accurate Brix and Temperature Measurements from Inside the Fermentation Tank
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Meet this year’s innovators at the North Coast Wine Industry Expo (WIN Expo) on November 30, 2023 at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds along with 20 previous WINnovation Award winners and nearly 300 total exhibitors.
