Sustainable Winegrowing

3 minutes 4 seconds

331: Rethinking Wine Packaging | Sustainable Story

By eliminating foil capsules and switching to lighter bottles, SAMsARA cut waste and emissions—reminding wine lovers that great wine doesn't need extra packaging.

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Vineyard Team Programs:

Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholarship - Help students from vineyard families pursue higher education
Online Courses - Earn DPR and CCA hours with expert-led sustainability trainings
SIP Certified - A trusted third-party certification proving your sustainable practices with science-backed standards
Sustainable Ag Expo - Join top experts at the premier winegrowing event of the year
Vineyard Team Membership - Connect with a community advancing sustainable winegrowing

12 October 2026, 4:00 am

36 minutes 17 seconds

330: Human-Robot Collaboration for Precision Agriculture

Imagine one vineyard machine that can prune, harvest, monitor vine health, and help guide irrigation decisions throughout the season.

Manoj Karkee, the Norman R. and Sharon R. Scott Professor of Agricultural Science at Cornell University, explores how artificial intelligence, robotics, and cyber-physical systems can make farming more efficient and economical.

Learn how multipurpose and soft robotics can tackle vineyard tasks, how cameras and sensors feed AI models to guide crop management, and how human-robot collaboration reduces labor, input costs, and resource use.

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Vineyard Team Programs:

Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholarship - Help students from vineyard families pursue higher education
Online Courses - Earn DPR and CCA hours with expert-led sustainability trainings
SIP Certified - A trusted third-party certification proving your sustainable practices with science-backed standards
Sustainable Ag Expo - Join top experts at the premier winegrowing event of the year
Vineyard Team Membership - Connect with a community advancing sustainable winegrowing

1 October 2026, 3:00 pm

16 seconds

329: Sustainability Starts with People | Marketing Tip Monday

When we talk about sustainability in wine, practices like conserving water, enhancing soil quality, and supporting biodiversity often come to mind. But sustainability is about more than caring for the land; it's about caring for the people behind every bottle.

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Support the Podcast:

Make a Donation

Vineyard Team Programs:

Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholarship - Help students from vineyard families pursue higher education
Online Courses - Earn DPR and CCA hours with expert-led sustainability trainings
SIP Certified - A trusted third-party certification proving your sustainable practices with science-backed standards
Sustainable Ag Expo - Join top experts at the premier winegrowing event of the year
Vineyard Team Membership - Connect with a community advancing sustainable winegrowing

28 September 2026, 4:00 am

36 minutes 40 seconds

328: Rethinking Vineyard Weed Management to Build Healthier Soils

Healthy soils are built through years of management decisions and sometimes rethinking old practices. Jim Lincoln, General Manager of Beckstoffer Vineyards in Napa Valley, shares how his approach to weed management has evolved from cultivation and herbicides to mowing, sheep grazing, cover crops, and no-till practices.

Learn how these changes have improved under-vine soil health, influenced weed populations, and affected costs. Jim discusses the real-world tradeoffs of building soil health and the opportunities it creates to improve fruit quality.

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Make a Donation

Vineyard Team Programs:

Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholarship - Help students from vineyard families pursue higher education
Online Courses - Earn DPR and CCA hours with expert-led sustainability trainings
SIP Certified - A trusted third-party certification proving your sustainable practices with science-backed standards
Sustainable Ag Expo - Join top experts at the premier winegrowing event of the year
Vineyard Team Membership - Connect with a community advancing sustainable winegrowing

17 September 2026, 4:00 am

3 minutes 22 seconds

327: The Feedback Loop Behind Better Wine | Sustainable Story

Growers rarely taste the wine made from their grapes. At Hope Family Wines, Stasi Seay uses annual tastings to help them connect their farming decisions to what's in the glass.

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Support the Podcast:

Make a Donation

Vineyard Team Programs:

Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholarship - Help students from vineyard families pursue higher education
Online Courses - Earn DPR and CCA hours with expert-led sustainability trainings
SIP Certified - A trusted third-party certification proving your sustainable practices with science-backed standards
Sustainable Ag Expo - Join top experts at the premier winegrowing event of the year
Vineyard Team Membership - Connect with a community advancing sustainable winegrowing

14 September 2026, 4:00 am

36 minutes 22 seconds

326: Increasing Microbat Activity for Vineyard Pest Management

Microbats are tiny natural predators with a big appetite for insects, but the uniform structure of a vineyard can keep them from venturing far into the block. Matt Fowles, Owner and CEO of Fowles Wine, noticed that vineyard blocks near trees had less moth pressure than those bordered by open grassland.

He shares how that observation inspired a system of vertical structures designed to give microbats echolocation points and encourage them to move deeper into the vineyard. Early trials show increased bat activity and promising potential for natural pest control in vineyards.

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Support the Podcast:

Make a Donation

Vineyard Team Programs:

Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholarship - Help students from vineyard families pursue higher education
Online Courses - Earn DPR and CCA hours with expert-led sustainability trainings
SIP Certified - A trusted third-party certification proving your sustainable practices with science-backed standards
Sustainable Ag Expo - Join top experts at the premier winegrowing event of the year
Vineyard Team Membership - Connect with a community advancing sustainable winegrowing

3 September 2026, 4:00 am

4 minutes 16 seconds

325: 4 Wine-Focused Social Media Tips: Q&A with Heather Daenitz | Marketing Tip Monday

Social media keeps changing, but wineries can stay relevant with a focused strategy. Heather Daenitz (Craft & Cluster) shares practical advice on Instagram Stories, audience engagement, searchable content, authentic video, and content series that help wineries connect with wine consumers.

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Support the Podcast:

Make a Donation

Vineyard Team Programs:

Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholarship - Help students from vineyard families pursue higher education
Online Courses - Earn DPR and CCA hours with expert-led sustainability trainings
SIP Certified - A trusted third-party certification proving your sustainable practices with science-backed standards
Sustainable Ag Expo - Join top experts at the premier winegrowing event of the year
Vineyard Team Membership - Connect with a community advancing sustainable winegrowing

31 August 2026, 4:00 am

34 minutes 25 seconds

324: Why Great Wine Isn't Enough: The Science of Liking

Why we like wine has less to do with our taste buds than you might think. Zata Vickers, professor of Food Science and Nutrition and director of the Sensory Center at the University of Minnesota, explains the science behind why we like what we like.

Learn how repeated exposure, positive social experiences, and even the words used to describe wine influence our preferences. Along the way, she shares surprising insights into what babies' reactions can teach us about taste and why food preferences are learned more often than they're born.

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Support the Podcast:

Make a Donation

Vineyard Team Programs:

Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholarship - Help students from vineyard families pursue higher education
Online Courses - Earn DPR and CCA hours with expert-led sustainability trainings
SIP Certified - A trusted third-party certification proving your sustainable practices with science-backed standards
Sustainable Ag Expo - Join top experts at the premier winegrowing event of the year
Vineyard Team Membership - Connect with a community advancing sustainable winegrowing

20 August 2026, 4:00 am

2 minutes 22 seconds

323: Nature's Night Shift | Sustainable Story

Mesa Vineyard Management teamed up with Cal Poly to track barn owls and understand where they hunt in an effort to help growers strengthen natural pest control in vineyards.

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Support the Podcast:

Make a Donation

Vineyard Team Programs:

Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholarship - Help students from vineyard families pursue higher education
Online Courses - Earn DPR and CCA hours with expert-led sustainability trainings
SIP Certified - A trusted third-party certification proving your sustainable practices with science-backed standards
Sustainable Ag Expo - Join top experts at the premier winegrowing event of the year
Vineyard Team Membership - Connect with a community advancing sustainable winegrowing

10 August 2026, 4:00 am

33 minutes 11 seconds

322: Managing Spotted Lanternfly with Biological Control

Biological control is emerging as one of the most promising tools against spotted lanternfly. Anne Johnson, postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Entomology at Michigan State University, explains how spotted lanternfly damages grapevines by draining plant sap and producing honeydew that fuels sooty mold.

She shares new research showing that North American predators, including spiders, praying mantises, and birds, are already helping keep this invasive pest in check. Learn which biological control strategies show the most promise, why removing tree of heaven matters, and how community science is accelerating discoveries for sustainable spotted lanternfly management.

Resources:

Support the Podcast:

Make a Donation

Vineyard Team Programs:

Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholarship - Help students from vineyard families pursue higher education
Online Courses - Earn DPR and CCA hours with expert-led sustainability trainings
SIP Certified - A trusted third-party certification proving your sustainable practices with science-backed standards
Sustainable Ag Expo - Join top experts at the premier winegrowing event of the year
Vineyard Team Membership - Connect with a community advancing sustainable winegrowing

6 August 2026, 4:00 am

2 minutes 45 seconds

321: 4 Ways to Get More from Every Social Media Post | Marketing Tip Monday

Boost your social media marketing without creating more content. Discover four simple strategies to improve SEO, help the right audience find your posts, increase saves and shares, build authentic connections, and repurpose content to maximize your reach.

Resources:

Support the Podcast:

Make a Donation

Vineyard Team Programs:

Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholarship - Help students from vineyard families pursue higher education
Online Courses - Earn DPR and CCA hours with expert-led sustainability trainings
SIP Certified - A trusted third-party certification proving your sustainable practices with science-backed standards
Sustainable Ag Expo - Join top experts at the premier winegrowing event of the year
Vineyard Team Membership - Connect with a community advancing sustainable winegrowing

27 July 2026, 4:00 am