Sometimes it’s not a bad thing to be full of hot air! Indeed, that is a lesson learned from an ingenious new tool that is enhancing the fruit and advancing our sustainability initiatives at Margarita Vineyard.

This tool is a new unit from Agrothermal Systems that acts like a giant propane-powered blowdryer attached to the back of a tractor. As you can see here, it is a compact piece of equipment.

By making slow passes up and down the vineyard rows during the spring blooming period, it provides short bursts of warm air that stimulate the young crop’s self-pollination process, resulting in uniform grape clusters. As such, it is a hedge against “shatter,” whereby incomplete pollination can create clusters with under-ripe or missing berries.

This unit is also used to reduce instances of mold and mildew when the young clusters begin to mature. As such, it offers an environmentally friendly solution to help maintain fruit integrity into the heart of the growing season—and it is the latest example of how new technologies continue to help us achieve natural quality in our wines.