Notes from the rows, the lab, & the code.
Things we learn running vine-by-vine management systems across thousands of acres. Research, opinion, and occasional product news.
Digital Flagging Tape: The Future of Vineyard Vine Marking and Management
Discover how digital flagging tape is replacing physical markers in modern vineyards. Learn how GPS-based vine tracking provides permanent, searchable records for premium estate wineries.
More from the team.
What Vine-Level Records Look Like at Scale: Lessons from a 184,000-Vine Estate
Inside a real-world deployment of vine-by-vine digital records across three vineyards, 57 blocks, and 35 years of planting history. How one premium Napa estate replaced spreadsheet...
What Is Digital Flagging Tape?
Digital flagging tape replaces physical ribbons and hand-drawn maps with permanent, GPS-anchored vine records. Learn how RTK-accurate digital markers transform vineyard management...
Vineyard Management at Scale: Why Per-Vine Records Matter More as You Grow
How vineyard management companies and large estate operations maintain vine-level visibility across thousands of acres without drowning in paperwork. Covers crew turnover, client r...
How Premium Napa Estates Use Vine-Level Records
A look at how top Napa Valley estates use vine-by-vine digital records to manage disease, plan replants, and preserve institutional knowledge across generations. Features practices...
Satellite vs. Drone vs. Ground-Level GPS: Which Accuracy Do You Actually Need?
A practical comparison of satellite imagery, drone NDVI, and RTK GPS ground-truth accuracy for vineyard management. Covers resolution, cost, and which decisions each technology sup...
Precision Viticulture ROI: What Vine-Level Data Actually Saves You
Vine-level data is not a nice-to-have. It is the foundation that makes every other vineyard decision more precise and less expensive -- from disease containment to replanting to cr...
The Vineyard Replant Decision: When the Data Says Pull, When It Says Wait
Vineyard replanting costs $50,000 to $80,000 per acre in Napa Valley when you factor in lost production. Vine-level data turns a gut call into a precise, block-by-block analysis --...
Pesticide Use Reporting for Vineyards: How to Automate California PUR Compliance
Pesticide use reporting for vineyards is a compliance requirement that consumes hours of admin time each week. Learn how to automate California PUR filings, track REI/PHI intervals...
Vineyard Work Orders: How to Close the Loop Between Scout and Field Crew
Vineyard work orders break down when scouting data does not connect to crew execution. Learn how vine-level work orders with auto-updating statuses close the gap between what your...
Cellar Management Software: Why Your Winery Should Not Need Two Systems
If you run a winery that grows its own fruit, you have probably encountered this problem: the software you use in the vineyard does not talk to the software you use in the cellar....
Drone Mapping vs. Ground-Truth Scouting: What Your Vineyard Actually Needs
Drone vineyard mapping gives you a canopy heatmap. Ground-truth scouting gives you vine-by-vine records. This post breaks down when you need each, where they overlap, and why the b...
RTK GPS for Vineyards: Why Sub-Inch Accuracy Changes Everything
If you manage a vineyard and have started looking into GPS mapping, you have probably noticed that the technology landscape is confusing. This guide covers everything a vineyard ma...
How to Build a Vine-Level Disease Tracking Program
Every vineyard has disease. Red blotch, leafroll, crown gall, Esca -- the specific pathogen varies by region, but the management challenge is universal. The vineyards that contain...
Vineyard Management Software: The 2026 Buyer's Guide
If you manage a vineyard and you are evaluating software for the first time, or reconsidering what you already use, this guide is for you. The vineyard management software market h...
RTK GPS for Vineyards: PinPoint RTK vs Sentinel Vine Manager
An honest comparison of VineView's PinPoint RTK hardware and Sentinel Vine Manager's full platform. Covers accuracy, software, disease tracking, work orders, and which tool fits yo...
Vineyard Work Order Management: From Paper Logs to GPS-Verified Records
Managing vineyard work orders on paper or in spreadsheets creates gaps in your spray records, roguing history, and harvest data. Here is how digital work order management with GPS...
Vineyard Management Company Software: Managing Vine Records Across a Client Portfolio
Vineyard management companies face data challenges that single estates don't. Here is why vine-level GPS records change the equation for VMCs managing multiple client properties.
What Vine-by-Vine Tracking Actually Means (and Why Block-Level Data Falls Short)
Most vineyard software tracks blocks. But the problems that cost you money -- virus spread, failed replants, variable block performance -- happen at the vine level. Here is what vi...
Leafroll Virus in Vineyards: Why Block-Level Maps Are Not Enough
Leafroll is the most economically damaging vine disease in California and Oregon. But most vineyards track it at the block level, which is too coarse to manage it effectively. Here...
How to Automate California Pesticide Use Reporting from Your Vineyard Spray Logs
California PUR reporting is required for every pesticide application. Learn how Sentinel automates the submission process by connecting your vineyard spray logs directly to CalAgPe...
Red Blotch Disease: What Napa Growers Need to Know in 2025
Understanding the risks, hidden threats, and best practices for managing Grapevine Red Blotch Disease in Napa Valley vineyards in 2025.
Should I Fire My Farming Company?
When the data from your vineyard management company does not match what you see in the field, it raises hard questions. Here is how vine-level records help estate owners hold their...
The Knowledge That Walks Out the Door
When your most experienced vineyard worker retires, decades of vine-level knowledge leaves with them. Which row always gets mildew first. Where the old virus pocket was. Which vine...
The $80,000-Per-Acre Question: When to Replant
Replanting a Napa vineyard block costs $50,000 to $80,000 per acre in real terms. Most estates still make that decision by feel. Vine-level data turns a gut call into a precise, bl...
The Downturn Is the Wrong Time to Stop Counting Your Vines
When the California wine market tightens, vineyard monitoring is the first budget line to get cut. That instinct is backwards. In a downturn, vine-level data is worth more than eve...
Drone Mapping for Vineyards: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
NDVI drone mapping may generate colorful heatmaps, but it doesn’t give vineyard managers the actionable, historical insight needed to track disease or manage vines long term. Senti...
Why Spreadsheets are the Most Expensive Way to Map Virus
In the ever-evolving landscape of viticulture, the Red Blotch virus has presented a formidable challenge to Napa Valley's vineyards. The quest for an elusive zero-virus scenario is...