If we consider many factors that can make grape growing and/or wine making a challenging prospect, I'm interested in knowing what might be the single biggest issue that -- if solved -- would change either grape-growing or wine making forever.
While I think about all the things we learn are critical to developing a good wine, the quality of the grapes, the processes chosen in making the wine; I'm now wondering if there's something even bigger out there -- not necessarily on our minds, maybe not on the average grape grower or wine maker's mind -- that might (for example) make it possible to grow good wine grapes in a region we never, ever considered; make it possible to grow 5x the number of grapes in a given acreage while maintaining grape and wine quality; make it possible to save/regenerate a crop of grapes that would have previously been viewed as irreparably lost/frozen/of poor quality, etc.
We are surrounded at Stanford with so many people working on tough questions in biology, physics, chemistry, etc. (and, of course, people around the world are doing the same)... it makes me wonder what huge challenge may end up getting solved that could change the landscape of the wine industry that we aren't yet considering.
Steve, I was contemplating the exact same topic.
ReplyDeleteMost of the innovation in the wine industry involves consumer tech - Coravin, new packaging, etc.
I found this interesting article on top 10 innovations in wine making: https://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/inventions/10-winemaking-innovations.htm
Of the list, I wonder which are feasible for wine makers to solve a burning problem.
Thank you, Sunny!! That was an interesting article ... some great ideas. I appreciate your sharing that.
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