Computers and computer hardware are designed to make work go faster. Ever faster and smaller chips and processors are what are always being developed in countless research facilities and labs. But what can computers do when you are in a business that can’t be hurried or rushed at all?

When you are in the business of growing grapes, running a vineyard and making wine you still rely on computers for a great deal of information. Thanks to advances in technology, computers are helping to increase yields and improve harvests despite the challenges an especially wet or dry growing season may present.

Vineyards can have a variety of different microclimates running through them. And the moisture requirements to achieve the maximum potential for the growing grapes can be radically different. That is where some enterprising vineyard owners have begun installing wireless moisture sensor stations around the various areas of their vineyards. Some areas may be composed of a softer clay-like soilthat can hold moisture, where another area could be made up of a sandier soil which could dry out faster. These stations can measure the moisture level of a particular area, process the data and then transmit the information to a desktop computer.

With such information a manager could tell how to make the best and most efficient use of irrigation for the different needs of each area. The systems have proven to provide energy, water and considerable money savings. With constantly updated knowledge of moisture levels, no more water than is absolutely necessary has to be trucked in.

Harvests from years when the systems were operational have turned out to be the largest yields with the most mature grapes that had been grown to date.

While grapes and wine will always take their own sweet time to reach maturity it is advances in computer hardware that can help them along the way.