EnviroMonitor Helps Fenestra Winery Produce Award Winning Wines

The Livermore valley, a few miles to the east of Hayward, has been the site of robust vineyards since the 1800s. While it once seemed to be overshadowed by the famed wine country of Napa, its success in producing fine wines has made it a place to know among oenophiles.

Fenestra's Cabled GroWeather sensor suite is mounted among the vines, along with the cellular Gateway.

Among the vineyards in the Livermore valley is Fenestra, which has been growing grapes and producing award-winning wines since 1976 at a winery that was built almost a hundred years prior.

The valley is unique with its gravel-based soil and large diurnal temperature swing (thank you, onshore breeze from the San Francisco Bay.) It is also unique for its east-west orientation. The warm Livermore temps let grapes ripen easily for high sugar and dark color. Those unique features of the valley, along with the fact that water in California is always a precious resource, means that the Fenestra vineyards are as unique and particular as any grower's field. Fenestra growers needed a way to irrigate with attention to vine needs without wasting a drop of this precious resource.

The Davis Dream Team -- Tom, Joel, Brett and Bruce -- was onsite to help Fenestra set up their system. Here they are taking a break under an EnviroMonitor Node.

To help use resources wisely and reduce the damage brought on by environmental conditions, Fenestra installed an EnviroMonitor system. Their system includes:

• 1 EnviroMonitor Gateway (6802)
• 1 GroWeather Sensor Suite (6820C)
• 4 EnviroMonitor Nodes (6810)
• 3 Watermark™ Soil Moisture Sensors (6440)
• 1 Leaf Wetness Sensor (6420)
• 1 Temperature/Humidity Sensor (6830)
• 2 Sentek™ Soil Moisture Probes
• 4 Gems™ Pressure Switches
• 1 Decagon/Meter™ Soil Moisture Sensor
• 1 Aquacheck™ Soil Moisture Probe

As you can see from this list, Fenestra takes full advantage of one of EnviroMonitor's key features: the ability to use both Davis and third-party sensors. (For a growing list of sensors currently supported by EnviroMonitor, click here.)

Fenestra growers have all the data they need to irrigate wisely.

Now Fenestra growers know when the irrigation system is on. They can run it only long enough to penetrate the vines' roots. The Leaf Wetness and Temperature/Humidity Sensors give the team insights on conditions where the grapes are growing. With forecasted data in hand, they can take actions to reduce damage caused by frost, freezing conditions, and heat while tracking chill portions, growing degree days, ET, and much more. With this installation, the team has the data they want and the ability to add additional Nodes and sensors when they’re ready.

The Fenestra Winery installation has been made publicly available for viewing on WeatherLink.com. Pour yourself a glass of Fenestra's smooth 2016 Cabernet Franc, then search for “Fenestra Winery” on WeatherLink.com and click "bulletin" to view a selection of weather sensor data.