Hyperspectral technology applied to grapes: experimentation among Berlucchi's rows of vines

Among the rows of Berlucchi, brands of Franciacorta and among the main Italian wine groups, with a turnover, in 2018, of 42 million euros, the first bunches are already in the cellar, but this is not the news. The novelty is in the vineyard, and concerns the experimentation of hyperspectral technology applied to grapes: together with Antares Vision, an Italian multinational leader in the visual inspection system, and with the Department of Information Engineering of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Brescia, the quality of the grapes, from their organoleptic characteristics to the evolution of their chemical composition during the ripening phase, and the possible presence of botrytis or other molds, will be monitored, with periodic sampling that began in July.

“It is not simply a question of bringing new technology to the vineyard, but of putting it at the service of environmentally sustainable viticulture, which is the ultimate goal of all the efforts we are making both as a company and as a territory ”, Arturo Ziliani, head of Berlucchi, explains to WineNews. But how does it work on a practical level? Thanks to the hyperspectral chamber, a kind of radiography that penetrates matter in its deepest structure, it is possible to recognize the chemical properties of the objects analyzed. In the second phase, the 4.0 viticulture project will be dedicated to optimizing the data collected. Through machine learning, it will be possible to look for indicators, bonds and correlations not evident to the human eye for analysis and statistics that can further improve the processes and the quality of the final product.