Technology and Winemaking

Filed in archive Wine Making on December 19, 2007

It's no secret the wine makers are using technology to help craft their wines. From tending the vines to adding color or reducing alcohol levels, science is becoming increasingly important to the wine industry. A segment on PBS's program Wired Science will focus on some of the less controversial technologies. There is no talk of Mega Purple or adding tannins, or even the use of oak chips to add flavor. The segment will discuss techniques like micro oxygenation and using computer sensors in vineyards.

From The San Jose Mercury News:

In a segment titled "The Grapes of Math," correspondent Ziya Tong refers to the use of science and technology as modern winemaking's "dirty little secret." Among her evidence: the practices at Clos de la Tech in the Santa Cruz Mountains and Havens Wine Cellars in the Napa Valley. . .

When it comes to some of the new tools winemakers are using, it can be hard to determine where to draw the line, or whether a line should even be drawn. "At every point in history," Havens says during the program, "a new technology seems like it's destroying all of the old traditions."

I have to agree with Laurie Daniel, who wrote the newspaper piece. These techniques hardly seem to be "secretive" in the face of some of the other practices out there.

Wired Science airs on Wednesdays on PBS. Check your local listings for times. I think this would be an interesting episode to catch.

[image credit: Kimberlee Kessler Design]