The Smart Farm w/ Kia Behnia, Neotempo Wines

XChateau Wine Podcast

Coming from a long career in technology, Kia Behnia, Founder of Neotempo Wines, was galvanized by the 2017 Napa fires to create a more sustainable path. This started in the vineyard, where he’s utilizing technology and leveraging real-time data to improve quality and decrease cost. Kia maps opportunities he sees in weeding, irrigation, mildew prevention, & automated crop evaluation as part of the foundation of a new “Smart Farm.” Beyond the vineyard, Kia has redesigned what sustainable packaging means for wine for Neotempo to address the most significant shortfalls of the industry today.

Detailed Show Notes:

Neotempo overview

• Replanted vineyard (Kiatra), sold fruit, and now starting a winery
• 2017 Napa fires - nearly lost property, vineyards acted as a fire break, became the catalyst to focus on sustainability leveraging tech and innovation
• Creating a brand for modern times, responsible and sustainable
• Launching Fall 2023 w/ Kiatra Cab Sauv, ~$250/btl
• We will roll out less expensive wines in the future

Tech in the vineyard

• Can help solve the labor shortage (cost of labor in Napa up 38% in last two years)
• Large opportunities - weeding, irrigation, mildew prevention, automated crop evaluation
• The use of data in the vineyard is low; data is available but not integrated

Vineyard Tech examples:

1) VineView - scans the vineyard to monitor vigor

2) Phytech - monitors soil temps for irrigation; installed 30 sensors across 4 acres / 4,000 vines; measure the stress level of vines to inform watering vs. scheduled watering

• Used 25% less water
• Able to do pre-watering for upcoming heat stress events (in a morning of high heat, 3-hour events) -> only lost 5% of the crop in 2022 vs. much more at other vineyards
• Gets real-time data at 3ft and 1ft under the soil and at canopy level
• Extending to misters in 2023 to control temp and hydration more

3) Crop Evaluations - establish the health of the vineyard at individual vine level

• Mapped and graded each vine 0-6 (0=blank, 1=rootstock only, 2=dead vine…6=healthy vine)
• Graded during the 7 stages of the growing cycle, including 1 week before harvest -> helps determine the replanting schedule
• It also uses grape samples and lab analysis (phenolics) as inputs

Exported all data into the analytics platform to do more reporting and analysis

No vineyard farming platform yet, mainly just products and features

ROI of vineyard tech - only invests in positive NPV projects

• The cost of farming went slightly up
• Believes innovation will reduce labor requirements
• Will create new capabilities - e.g., disease prevention

Challenges to moving forward

• Lack of entrepreneurship culture in farming
• Lack of funding
• Lack of openness of farmers to adopt new technologies

Neotempo packaging - building architecture for sustainable 750ml wine bottle

• Designed own lightweight, high-end bottle (550g, 40% lighter than alternatives, 100% recycled glass)
• Temp-controlled styrofoam alternative, no plastic - every component recyclable or compostable

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