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Cakebread Cellars has grown from a 157 case Chardonnay producer in 1974 to one of the most important and innovative wineries in the Napa Valley with help from Premiere Viticultural Services. Cakebread produces Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon as well as small amounts of Pinot Noir, Merlot and Syrah.
A recognized leader in both grape and wine production, Cakebread is constantly evaluating its viticultural and winemaking practices. Cakebread Cellars chose PremiereVision software because of its efficiency from pruning through wine production.
Bruce Cakebread, President of Cakebread Cellars says Premiere Viticultural Services provides them with a very sophisticated software system to help them manage their winemaking tasks and effectively schedule the work force. "We like to have very precise information about everything that is going on with each lot of wine," says Cakebread. "It is critical to making the best of each load of grapes that comes into the winery." "It's a great program," says Cakebread. "It allows the vineyard manager or winery to make informed and practical decisions, both by viewing data that is rolled up to show the 'big picture', or by drilling down into the data to look for the reasons for trends. That's what we need to make great wine."
Thanks to Premiere Vision Cakebread has changed its approach to irrigation. "Years ago, the vines would get one long drink in the spring-we thought that would be enough until harvest," Cakebread said. But now, thanks to the information provided through Premiere Vision they use a neutron-probe which allows them to accurately measure how much water specific vines are using and how much watering is needed to grow better grapes."
PremiereVision has also helped them better plan. "In early years the only variations in farming were for red or white grapes," Cakebread remembers. "Today, we have 'game plans' for each block in every vineyard." A game plan is based on data from previous vintages that reflects the current growing season. "We don't repeat undesirable combinations and the entire crew knows ahead of time what the game plan is so we get the best we can from the fruit."
The vineyard experience of the people at Premiere Viticultural Services was a deciding factor for Cakebread Cellars in choosing PremiereVision. "It was important for us to know that we were dealing with knowledgeable vineyard people, not just programmers," says Cakebread viticulturist Toby Halkovich. "PremiereVision is not just a database-Premiere's vineyard experience made the application practical and relevant."
Cakebread Cellars is using PremiereVision to monitor viticultural data, track farming activities on their various blocks, and to communicate important information immediately throughout their organization. They are just starting to explore the many powerful functions of the system, such as material application management, fertilizer work orders and record-keeping, wine quality tracking, irrigation management, and budgeting. "We're interested in where the application is today, but we are even more interested in where it is going, where it can take us." says Halkovich. "That is where PremiereVision shines."
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