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Crouching between vine rows to inspect the ground cover and soil surface

Soil health and regenerative experimentation at Vinescapes
Soil health and regenerative experimentation at Vinescapes 2560 1707 Sectormentor

We recently spoke to Rob Poyser, viticulturist at Vinescapes, who won the WineGB Sustainability in Viticulture Rising Star award in 2024. Rob told us a bit about what he and the Vinescapes team are up to,  and how they’re using Sectormentor.

Vinescapes is a UK-based vineyard management and consultancy business providing hands-on and practical guidance to vineyards. They aim to help build long-term successful vineyard businesses, with a focus on harnessing the power of data and enhancing natural eco-systems for vineyard health and productivity.

The Vinescapes Approach

“We manage land on behalf of our clients from Cornwall all the way through to East Anglia, so it’s a lot of ground to cover. We’re constantly having regular team meetings. We share technical information, knowledge, we do a lot of internal training; it’s important that we upskill each other. And we spend a lot of time crop walking and disease scouting, out in the field, in the vines, which is super important as a team.”

Taking a collaborative approach has been key to Vinescapes’ success as a business and team, “it’s all about constant communication”. Knowledge sharing and upskilling each other has helped Vinescapes to grow, adapt, and come up with solutions together. In this way, they are able to build real experience and expertise as a team. This approach also extends to their relationships with vineyards and clients:

“Our collaborative approach with clients means we’re not only there to just deliver them fruit, but we’re there to help them over their long-term journey; to grow a successful vineyard business that will keep on performing. It’s this bigger picture, so to speak, not just getting a crop this year. We work with our clients every day to make real-time decisions.”

Person standing between vine rows holding a spade for soil sampling
Vinescapes’ Rob Poyser won WineGB’s Rising Star Award in 2024 for Sustainability in Viticulture.

How Vinescapes prioritise monitoring day-to-day

The Vinescapes team have a focus on spending time in the vines, disease and pest scouting client vineyards and crop walking, to build an intimate knowledge of each vineyard, and quickly solve problems as they arise. They have found Sectormentor invaluable as a framework to support this approach, making it easy to track and record vineyard data whilst sharing it with vineyard teams. This allows vineyards to be “in the know” and to learn alongside Vinescapes; “they get detailed reports every couple of weeks, every time we visit, which can be as detailed or data driven as they like”. Vinescapes also offers training, so clients can eventually manage the vineyard themselves with a more informed knowledge of their land.

Everyone on the Vinescapes team has access to Sectormentor and uses it every day. This allows the team to be co-ordinated, through having visibility on what everyone is up to, whether team members are in the office or out in the field. 

“I think that’s the key; from phenological dates to disease scouting to yield estimates, all throughout the year we’re constantly populating Sectormentor with information. It really helps me to manage and consult with real-time information on every vineyard I work with.”

Having vineyard data readily available helps the Vinescapes team to make quick and informed decisions about management practice. This is useful, for example, when it comes to the run up to harvest; at that time of year the team have meetings to discuss which vineyards will be harvested at what time, “we have a master schedule up and we talk about when we’re going to harvest specific vineyards based on the information we’ve put into Sectormentor. It’s super helpful to have it in the run up to harvest, it’s where Sectormentor comes into its own.”

The team have also been using Sectormentor to integrate with other vineyard technology, such as Sencrop weather stations. By linking weather data to Sectormentor, Vinescapes receives detailed GDD (Growing Degree Day) reports from each vineyard in real time helping them to: “learn more about the actual climatics happening in the field.”

Crouching between vine rows to inspect the ground cover and soil surface
The team at Vinescapes conduct regular soil inspections to evaluate soil health and conduct earthworm and biodiversity counts. All of this data is recorded in Sectormentor and is openly shared with clients to make the best decisions for soil and vine health and productivity improvements.

Building soil health across multiple sites

Vinescapes track soil health results to improve vine health and resilience, paying particular attention to areas in need of improvement. The team have all learned how to do Sectormentor’s Regen Indicators, using earthworm counts as a key measure of overall soil health and biology. The team also records flora and fauna species in spring, as this often directly relates to how the vines will perform later in the season.

“We’re a bit obsessive over soils… we record soil health data at least twice a year. We split the vineyards up into blocks based on clones and rootstocks, and we actually dig soil pits in every single one! The point of making soil health observations is to act on them, to really measure improvements or to measure when things aren’t going right and how we’re going to improve them.”

Soil lab testing have also helped Vinescapes plan their programmes for soil nutrition. They take soil samples and send them off for lab nutrient analysis regularly, “In a strange way, it refocuses the mind so you make vineyard management decisions that are going to improve soil health, because you’ll be held accountable at the end of the year when we all sit down and look at each other’s results.”

Regenerative experimentation

Having all vineyard data accessible and in one place has been key to Vinescapes’ ability to challenge viticultural conventions and see how they can do things differently: “Sectormentor is great for research projects because we can measure, look back and record what’s working and what’s not working. We can then look at all of our vineyards and switch between accounts… that is just, really, really game changing for us”.

“We’ve been working with Alistair on collecting data for international projects. It’s been fun to really push the boundaries of what’s possible [with viticulture], internationally and here in the UK; and taking on little projects, like looking at ways to actively improve under vine strips… It’s not just daily, tractor driving or crop walking – we are making real change to the soil and vine health of clients vineyards.”

Thank you to Rob for chatting to us about how the Vinescapes team use Sectormentor. If you are an run a vineyard, are a vineyard consultant or vineyard management company and are interested in learning more about Sectormentor, contact us at info@vidacycle.com, or book a demo with us here.


Turn Your Observations Into a Stronger and Healthier Vineyard

Clear Yield Forecasts

Confident Harvest Plans

Credible Ecological Monitoring

See how Sectormentor works for you:

Small & Medium Vineyards Large Vineyard Vineyard Management Company
The Sectormentor yield predictor open on a laptop and phone

Video Guide: Why do the Regen Indicators?
Video Guide: Why do the Regen Indicators? 2096 1592 Sectormentor


Video Guide: Why do the Regen Indicators?

To get the most out of Sectormentor’s Regen Dashboard, it is important to understand the value of each Regen Indicator test and what it can tell you about your soil health.

The Sectormentor Regen Dashboard presents traffic light benchmarks of 10 key soil tests, the Regen Indicators, collated by agroecologist and Vidacycle collaborator Nicole Masters. The Regen Indicators include assessments of: earthworm count, rhizosheaths, Brix barometer, legume nodulation, rooting depth, infiltration rate, soil insect score, a slake test, carbon stocks, and % of bare earth. The Regen Dashboard then provides tailored feedback, based on your soil test results, on which areas of your soil health need prioritising. Allowing you to assess your soil health can help benefit the productivity and health of your vines. 

In this series of clips, Nicole Masters delivers bite-size, digestible insights into what the Regen Indicators truly indicate, as well as the importance of soil health overall. Nicole shares her years of experience and knowledge on the topic of: why should I do the Regen Indicators?

Why monitor wormcount?

Falling in love with your earthworms is key to building soil health. Worms move through soil, metabolising organic matter, creating pores and adding structure for other soil organisms; they improve water drainage, and make nutrients bioavailable for plants. Nicole describes worm castings as the elixir of life! A healthy soil means lots of worms, in all shapes and sizes!

Key Takeaways

  • Earthworm castings contain secondary metabolites, plant growth hormones and more.
  • There are three types of earthworms that all move through the soil in different ways – you want to encourage a population of all three.
  • The tunnels made by earthworms create porous space where soil microbes can live, water can infiltrate, and roots can grow.
  • The number of earthworms found will depend on your soil type, for example sandy soil will have fewer worms.
  • If you have lots of earthworms, you are doing something right!
Video thumbnail: Nicole Masters on why to monitor worm count

Why monitor rhizosheath formation?

Rhizosheaths form when plants release sugars that attract microbiology to the rhizosphere. This microbial community releases mucilage which acts as a glue, sticking a layer of soil to the plant root. This layer of soil then protects the plant roots from changes in climate, moisture, nutrients and PH. Do this test anywhere on your vineyard, just pick a healthy looking plant and assess its roots.

Key Takeaways

  • A rhizosheath is a layer of soil that surrounds the roots of a plant.
  • Rhizosheaths protect a plant’s roots from changes in climate, moisture, nutrients, PH and more.
  • Rhizosheaths form as a result of the presence of microbiology and their mucilage, which acts as a glue in the soil. 
  • Rhizosheath formation can be impacted in unhealthy and compacted soils.
Video thumbnail: Nicole Masters on why to monitor rhizosheath formation

Why do a Brix test?

A Brix reading reflects the efficiency of a plant’s photosynthesis. When the brix of your ‘weeds’ (undesirable plant species) is compared with the brix of your vines (desirable plant species), you can see whether you are creating the best conditions for your vines, or your weeds! 

Key Takeaways

    • A Brix test shows the percentage of plant sugars within a plant, using a refractometer.
    • A refractometer measures from 0-50% Brix. One Brix is equal to 1g of sucrose in 100g of solution.
    • The Brix barometer assesses whether your vines (desirable plant species) are photosynthesising more effectively than your weeds (undesirable plant species).
    • If your vines have a higher Brix reading than your weeds, then your soil conditions are more favourable to the growth of your vines.
Video thumbnail: Nicole Masters on why to do a brix test

Why monitor legume nodulation?

Legumes form relationships with different types of bacteria in the soil which allow them to grow nitrogen-fixing nodules in their root systems. Legumes don’t fix nitrogen in all soil conditions, so it is important to assess if your nitrogen-fixing plants are functioning healthily.

Key Takeaways

    • Check regularly to see if your legumes are fixing nitrogen by assessing if they have nodules on their root systems.
    • Pinch nodules with your fingernails or a knife to see if the inside is pink or red, if so they are actively fixing nitrogen! 
    • If your legumes aren’t growing nodules, your soils probably need some love!
Video thumbnail: Nicole Masters on why to monitor legume nodulation

Why measure rooting depth?

Rooting depth measures the distance that plant roots are able to travel through the soil. If you have multiple plant’s roots that are concentrated at a shallow depth, this suggests something is limiting root growth, such as compaction, nutrient deficiency, or low oxygen levels. A healthy soil profile will allow roots to grow deep into the soil, forming a resilient soil structure. Next time you’re in the vineyard, check the rooting depth of your ground cover plants to test your soil health and structure!

To explore more about rooting depth and soil structure on vineyards, click here to read Mimi Casteel’s explanation on the importance of structural diversity.

Key Takeaways

    • The depth of a plant’s roots can inform you on the health of your deeper soil layers.
    • If the roots of your ground cover plants are concentrated at a shallow depth, you might be susceptible to flooding and drought, as roots allow for water infiltration and storage.
    • Rooting depth can be limited by factors, such as compaction or a layer of soil releasing gases.
    • Compacted soil can also affect a plant’s ability to grow root hairs.
    • Healthy plant roots of some species can grow up to 20 ft down into the soil! The deeper the plant root, the better the soil structure.
Video thumbnail: Nicole Masters on why to measure rooting depth

Why record infiltration rate?

Infiltration rates indicate how much rainfall your soil is able to absorb and hold onto. You want water to be able to travel the length of your soil profile and into your underground aquifers. Infiltration tests can also tell you about the structure and porosity of your soil.

Key Takeaways

    • Infiltration rates tell you how much water your soil can absorb and store.
    • It is important that water is able to travel through the soil profile so that aquifers can be refilled. 
    • If your infiltration rate is slow, it is likely that your soils are compacted or hydrophobic.
    • Cutting through the soil after an infiltration test can give further clues about whether water moves evenly through the soil profile, or whether there are areas preventing drainage.
Video thumbnail: Nicole Masters on why to record infiltration rate

Why look at soil insect score?

This test focuses on the presence of root chewing insects and pest populations. The more undesirable insect populations you can find in your soils, the greater the risk they pose to your crop.

Key Takeaways

    • Soil insect scores tell us about the estimated population of root chewing insects and pests in your soil, and therefore potential damage to your crop.
    • It is important to research pest pressures specific to your region.
    • Presence of insect pests can indicate that your soil ecosystem is falling into a decline, making your soil more susceptible to further pest damage.
    • Areas affected by underground insect pests appear above ground as lower growing patches of vegetation. You may also start seeing holes in the soil where birds are feeding on your pest population.
Video thumbnail: Nicole Masters on why to look at soil insect score

Why do a slake test?

A slake test indicates the level of aggregate stability in your soil, and therefore soil biological activity; this is because an aggregate is held together with microbial mucilage. If a small aggregate is put into water, it will fall apart if there is no mucilage to hold it together, indicating a lack of biological activity.

Key Takeaways

      • Mucilage secreted by soil microbes hold the soil together to form aggregates.
      • If the aggregate sticks together when put into water, it contains microbial mucilage which is holding it together.
      • If your aggregate is held together with mucilage, this means it is more resilient to flooding.
      • If you also see bubbles forming around the aggregate while it is underwater, this indicates microbial respiration is taking place.
Video thumbnail: Nicole Masters on why to do a slake test

We hope that these short clips expressed the magnitude of what you can learn from your soil with just these simple tests under your belt! By developing an instinct for these kinds of soil observations, you can fully engage with the changes you are helping to make on your vineyard.

If you have any questions for the Vidacycle team, please feel free to email us at info@vidacycle.com.


Turn Your Observations Into a Stronger and Healthier Vineyard

Clear Yield Forecasts

Confident Harvest Plans

Credible Ecological Monitoring

See how Sectormentor works for you:

Small & Medium Vineyards Large Vineyard Vineyard Management Company
The Sectormentor yield predictor open on a laptop and phone
Grape bunches at veraison with berries starting to colour

Spotlight: Sectormentor’s Harvest Report
Spotlight: Sectormentor’s Harvest Report 1200 1202 Sectormentor

As vineyards across the Northern Hemisphere begin to harvest their grapes, we’re putting a spotlight on some of the Sectormentor reports that act as a guide in the run up to harvest, as well supporting the monitoring of your harvest as it comes in. 

The Harvest Report

The Harvest Report allows you to monitor how well your harvest is going; are your yields matching up to your yield prediction? How far through harvest are you? The Harvest Report uses the yields recorded in each block to show how much you have harvested so far each day. 

It also compares each block with your yield predictions, so you can easily see which blocks have yielded more or less than expected. These calculations adjust as additional data is added throughout the harvesting season.

After harvest, you can then understand how successful your harvest has been: what were your yields per hectare? Which blocks didn’t yield so well this year? Why might this be? We see this report as a compass; it gives tangible insight into the productivity of each block, and allows your vineyard team to see where changes need to be made to maximise the success of your vineyard; it shows you the direction towards vineyard prosperity.

Harvest report comparing total yield against the yield prediction, with harvest evolution and harvest per block

The Yield Predictor

The Harvest Report shows you your actual yield compared to your predicted yields, which are pulled in directly from the Sectormentor Yield Predictor. This report allows you to visualise predictions block by block, based on flower counts or bunch counts collected while out on the vineyard, alongside bunch weights. Any unexpected losses that come up during the season can be taken into account, so your predictions are tailored to your specific context, and then measured up against your actual harvest weights in the Harvest Report!

Find out more about the Sectormentor Yield Predictor here.

Harvest report showing total yield per hectare with a bar chart of harvest per area by block

The Grape Ripeness Indicator

The Grape Ripeness Indicator is another key report in the run up to harvest. It shows grape sugar and acidity levels in each of your different blocks, allowing you to pick your grapes at their optimal moment. This information supports a decision on which block will need harvesting next, to prepare a rough harvesting schedule.

Two charts tracking readings by block through ripening
Grape bunches at veraison with berries starting to colour
Pinot Noir L., Veraison, 24 August 2023.

Top vintner Will Davenport at Davenport Vineyard shared his experience using the Sectormentor Ripeness Indicator with us:

“The ripening process is different every year and choosing picking dates can be crucial to wine quality. Sectormentor’s Ripeness Indicator shows trends in sugar and acid in graph format and previous years can be easily compared. Last Autumn it was immediately obvious that our sugar levels weren’t increasing whilst acidity levels were dropping in certain blocks – we knew it was going to rain all week, so we were able to quickly make the decision to pick sooner in those areas and avoid increased disease pressure. I feel confident we harvested just at the right time producing higher quality grapes as a result.”
– Will Davenport, Davenport Vineyard

Thank you to Will for sharing your experience with Sectormentor, and for allowing us to use some historic data from Davenport Vineyard in this article!

If you are interested in using Sectormentor on your vineyard, or you have any questions for us about the app, don’t hesitate to contact us at info@vidacycle.com – we’re always happy to arrange a call or answer any questions!

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Wildflowers growing under a vine before bud burst

Seresin Estate Vineyard: Stem Water Potential, Irrigation and Grape Quality
Seresin Estate Vineyard: Stem Water Potential, Irrigation and Grape Quality 1707 2560 Sectormentor


Seresin Vineyard: Stem Water Potential, Irrigation and Grape Quality

Seresin is the largest Demeter Certified Biodynamic vineyard in New Zealand. Based in Marlborough, the vineyard spans 50 planted hectares. The vineyard is managed holistically, with a diversity of animals and plants which formulate an ecosystem, including: olive trees, pine nut trees, sheep, chickens, cows, goats, ducks and bees. 

Seresin have been using Sectormentor to monitor their vineyard activities, including creating yield predictions from their bunch weights, tracking their yield, and visualising their phenology activity. This week, we chatted to Seresin’s vineyard manager, Cameron Vawter, who shared with us how the vineyard team are now tailoring their Sectormentor app to specifically monitor Stem Water Potential (SWP) in order to determine irrigation habits that maximise grape quality. 

Sun rising over a vineyard on the ridge
Aerial view of vineyard blocks with hills behind

SWP is a way of monitoring water stress in a vine. The process involves taking a vine leaf and placing it inside a chamber in which pressure is applied to the leaf to push the water out. The chamber measures how ‘tightly’ the leaf holds onto water, reflecting its vine water status or water stress level. The readings from these tests are negative, but the team input them as positive and read the graphs inversely to simplify the data visualisation.

Chart of average stem water potential per day across the season

Above we can see a graph of the Stem Water Potential of two of Seresin's blocks, tracked from late January to early March; the grape harvesting season in New Zealand.

‘When I begin the irrigation season, I might be at a 5 bar. Dependent on soils and weather I might go up to a 12 bar, at which I’ll irrigate and see the graph go back down to an 8 bar. We have different thresholds for different varieties and different desired quality outcomes. When I see my SWP go down, I won’t irrigate again until I start to see my SWP increase again. Now I want to assess which irrigations work best for the vines; I’ve found so far that longer, deeper and infrequent irrigations are the more effective.’
– Cameron Vawter

The main driver for SWP testing at Seresin is to reduce the amount of water used in irrigation, and therefore improve grape quality: ‘We know that decreased or better timed irrigation will improve our wine quality, as well as save water’. Reduced irrigation reduces water dilution within the grape; this results in smaller grapes with better flavour profiles. Some vineyards irrigate frequently to increase the weight and yield of their harvest, but the team at Seresin believe in ‘quality over quantity’. Cameron also describes how over-watering vines can lead to ‘over stimulated canopy growth, which can increase disease pressure, the need to spray your vines, and vine trimming. This all takes away from the ripening process of the vine’. In this sense, targeted irrigation will lead to a lot less work in other areas of vine and inter-row maintenance.

‘Lots of viticulturists will look at the vines and try and make an irrigation decision based on appearance, but vines can be deceiving. When you are working with multiple different varieties, sizes and quality parameters of the vines, they will all have different watering needs.’
– Cameron Vawter

Cameron plans to put his irrigation quantities into the Sectormentor app next, so he can see their direct relationship with his SWP readings.  He has previously found that his SWP figures spike after a short irrigation, ‘by doing a small irrigation, you are actually adding more stress to the vine in a short period of time; if you are able to do it right, your SWP will be lower for a longer period of time before it starts to rise again’.

Vineyard rows on rolling hills at sunrise
Wildflowers growing under a vine before bud burst

Overall Key Learnings

  • Longer, deeper irrigations decrease vine stress for a longer period of time 
  • Vines do not need as much water as you think 
  • Specifically timed and data driven irrigation habits, lead to better quality grapes

A warm thank you to Cameron Vawter for speaking to us about the exciting SWP experimentation happening at Seresin Vineyard. We love hearing about new ways that Sectormentor can be adapted to support regenerative experiments on vineyards!  

If you would like to get in touch with us, please contact us at info@vidacycle.com. If you are thinking of buying Sectormentor, contact us or click here. 


Turn Your Observations Into a Stronger and Healthier Vineyard

Clear Yield Forecasts

Confident Harvest Plans

Credible Ecological Monitoring

See how Sectormentor works for you:

Small & Medium Vineyards Large Vineyard Vineyard Management Company
The Sectormentor yield predictor open on a laptop and phone

Why monitor % short shoots? Regenerative viticulturist Dan Rinke explains
Why monitor % short shoots? Regenerative viticulturist Dan Rinke explains 1920 2560 Sectormentor

Why monitor % short shoots? Hear from regenerative viticulturist Dan Rinke about the newest addition to the Vine Health Report…

We first learned the power of monitoring pruning weights from growers like Will Davenport of Davenport Organic and Matt Strugnell of Ridgeview Estate, alongside some brilliant insights on how pruning weights might be linked to yield from Frances Trappey of Vinescapes (previously Rathfinny).  Building on those ideas, Dan Rinke of Art Science Cider Wine in Oregon has witnessed a similar phenomenon linking his pruning weights to the yield prediction for the following season: 

“I also monitor pruning weights for when I’m allocating and selling contracts for the year ahead. I know if there is a lower pruning weight in a particular block, then I will lower the yield prediction for those grapes in the next year.”

We initially developed the Sectormentor Vine Health Indicator to allow growers to link their pruning weights to the productivity and health of their vines, and it is already used by Will, Matt, Frances and Dan to locate and observe these trends.

We’ve recently released an exciting new update to the report, in line with another indicator that Dan Rinke has found to be a great compliment to pruning weights – tracking the percentage of short shoots across the vines…

Chart of the percentage of short shoots across three vineyard blocks
The Vine Health Indicator – observing trends in % short shoots across three blocks over three seasons.

“The percentage of short shoots is a really good indicator of vine health in my experience. I have found that there is a direct correlation between an increasing number of short shoots and a decline in health of the vines. You get a higher % of short shoots when there are more shoots per vine and tighter internode spacing, so there are many more shoots, and more short shoots generally.

When looking at the numbers, knowing the % of short shoots completes the pruning weight data. It helps to explain the pruning weights better because it helps you understand: if you have a low pruning weight, is it because you have less viable shoots or is there just less vigour per shoot? If the weights are higher, did you have more viable shoots or did the individual shoots just weigh more because they were bigger? I’ve seen less shoots due to internode spacing decrease the % of short shoots and vice versa.”

“If we see an upward trend in % short shoots every year, we most likely have either nutritional or disease issues. There is clearly something wrong with the health of the vines and it is probably nutrition related. For big vineyards, measuring % short shoots as well as pruning weights can result in a huge cost saving, as it indicates specific blocks to include in a nutritional program.”

Vineyard of unpruned canes in winter before pruning starts

Dan counts the number of short shoots and the total number of shoots at the same time as pruning (and weighing his prunings). For his VSP trellis system a short shoot is defined as any shoot shorter than half the canopy (i.e less than 18 inches / 45 cm).

“For people who won’t spend the time monitoring pruning weights, then I encourage them to at least record % shorts shoots, because it’s fairly quick and you can still get year on year trends to see an early indication of the health of the vines. And for anyone already monitoring pruning weights, it’s such an easy addition and it gives you much more information.”

Dan, Matt, Frances and Will all use Sectormentor to support them in turning data collected in the field into immediate reports, so they can take actions with plenty of advance warning. Sectormentor facilitates improving the longevity of their vines, and improves the efficiency of the running of their vineyards. Whether your vineyard is sustainable certified, organic,  biodynamic, or early on in a regenerative journey, the Sectormentor Vine Health Report, now including % short shoots monitoring, is here to help!

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Know your Vines #9: Record harvest weights and analyse yield performance with our Harvest Tool
Know your Vines #9: Record harvest weights and analyse yield performance with our Harvest Tool 4032 3024 Sectormentor

In our Know your Vines blog series we share practical tips on what metrics to monitor in your vineyard. This is the ninth instalment, stay tuned for more as the seasons unfold! “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.”

I heard it through the grapevine, not much longer ‘til grapes turn to wine

As we enjoy the welcome Autumn sunshine the grapes are doing their last bit of ripening. Months of hard work in the vineyard and efforts to optimise yield and fruit quality culminate in this moment; harvest time! What will your yield be? Is it in line with your prediction? Monitoring the yield for each block will not only tell you how close your prediction is but also inform your pruning technique and how you care for the vines going into the next season.

Picker carrying a crate of grapes between vineyard rows at harvest

How to monitor yield

The best way is to keep collection trays from different blocks separate when you’re harvesting, and weigh them separately, recording the total amount picked in each block each day in Sectormentor for Vines. This makes it possible to compare numbers for individual blocks, so you know how each one is doing, and can adopt relevant management actions.

Using the Harvest Tracker

The Harvest Tracker aims to be interesting both during and after harvest. During the harvest, as you record the amount picked per block each day you can see the total amount harvested and how that has progressed through the harvest season.

Harvest dashboard comparing total kilograms picked against the saved yield prediction, with harvest evolution over the season

This gives you a simple overview of how the harvest team are getting on and how your yield is moving forward.

Looking at the amount picked for each block or variety lets you quickly see how much fruit was picked so far (during the harvest) or in total (after the harvest). This is useful both in real time as the harvest is coming in to understand how much has been picked and how much is left to pick in particular blocks, as well as after harvest to help understand the profitability of each block or variety.

Bar chart of total kilograms picked per grape variety at harvest

The yield per hectare/acre lets you compare the productivity of each block and gives you an understanding of how each variety, rookstock and clone performed this year. You can quickly spot if there are any problem blocks and decide on actions to take for the next season.

Knowing your yield per unit area also allows you to benchmark yourself against other vineyards, and can often be a better indicator if it was a good or bad cropping year.

Harvest dashboard showing kilograms picked per acre and a bar chart of harvest per acreage by variety

Once your harvest weights are recorded and harvest is all done you can sit back and reflect on it all. Which blocks performed well? How efficient was harvest this year? How many tonnes per hectare were picked? With the Harvest Tracker on Sectormentor for Vines you can answer all these questions.

Harvest Tracker
Ripe black grapes hanging over a vineyard alley covered in green undergrowth

Are you already using Sectormentor for Vines to monitor kilograms picked? Log into your account online to try our new Harvest Tool. You’ll find it in the ‘Tools’ section – let us know what you think!

Find out how Sectormentor for Vines helps you record data & manage your vines for the best quality grapes: get in touch here or check out 10 key metrics to monitor in your vineyard.

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Case study: Luke Spalding – Everflyht Vineyard
Case study: Luke Spalding – Everflyht Vineyard 2000 1333 Sectormentor

Join us for a walk around a beautiful spot in East Sussex, a 2.6-hectare vineyard run by data lover Luke Spalding. The vines are fairly new, they’ve been in the ground for 4 years and will be producing at full potential in the next year or two. Another 4.5 hectares of vines are due to be planted in May 2021, and the aim is to consistently produce 6-8 tonnes of grapes a hectare in the future. Currently the wine is made at Hambledon, where Luke has built a great working relationship with Felix the winemaker there, the first wines will be released 2021.

Group walking a vineyard together on a summer visit

The vineyard is 74m above sea level and the site has its challenges; such as extreme south west winds and severe late spring frosts due to its proximity to the South Downs. Luke told us “This is why I wanted the job, if I can deal with these challenges and learn to produce a great crop then I know I am doing something right!”.

The field was previously used for grazing livestock and hay making, so the soil is rich in nitrogen but has an imbalance of magnesium and potassium. This is a blessing and a curse in the Pinot Meunier variety; as it saves on some fertilisers but creates other problems with necrosis on the berries and buds.

Crouching to tie in a vine at the post in summer

Luke spends a lot of time scouting in the vineyard for issues, making observations and recording them with his Sectormentor phone app. His passion for data started when he was at Ridgeview Wine Estate; he helped monitor links between the number of seeds in a berry, berry size and climatic values that increased berry size and development. In a Californian grape grown to maturity the average is three to four seeds per grape, but how many seeds do English grapes generally have? Luke decided to sample 250 berries across every block in the vineyard, counting seeds to calculate the average seed count per berry for each block, observing how well the fruit had matured. He found there are often only 2 seeds on average in an English grape, a sign the grapes do not fertilise as well as those across the pond. This is because we just don’t have enough sunny growing days over here!

From the vineyard row to the office, reviewing vine records as charts on a computer

Pre veraison Luke and his assistant Tom recorded bunch counts with the Sectormentor for Vines app to start making an early yield prediction and decide if they need to remove any bunches from the vines to optimise yield and grape quality. They checked the bunch count data displayed by block on their Sectormentor account and decided to take off quite a few bunches post flowering, which are left on the ground to return fertility to the soil.

Once grapes have been thinned out they will go through and count bunches again to understand how many were actually dropped and update their yield prediction. All this data can be put into the Sectormentor app so they can observe and understand trends in how their bunch counts are evolving and what their yield might be.

Two growers inspecting a vine cane together in the row

Post veraison, berries grow rapidly in size, generally due to Autumn sunshine causing sugar to build up in the grapes. Luke monitors berry weight to see the impact from different weather patterns and other variables. As it turns out, hot and sunny weather during the growing season is not necessarily what causes dramatic increases in berry size; it is actually a heavy rainfall event in the run up to harvest which makes a huge difference!

We got the low down from Luke: “If you have 10 bunches per vine and each one increases by 10g due to rain, each Ha has 4,132 vines and the site has 10ha that’s an extra 4,132kg. It all adds up!”

As Everflyht is a new vineyard, there are some younger vines which aren’t yielding yet. Luke monitors younger vines, along with dead and missing vines, so he can take them out of his yield prediction, ensuring it is accurate. Luke also keeps track of frost damage and wind scorch by recording incidences on Sectormentor, so he’s able to stay on top of the problems and make any necessary management changes. He sprays seaweed straight onto frost damaged buds within 24 hours – this does an amazing job helping them recover! He’s also trying a biodynamic treatment of silica to help with wind scorch. This improves cell walls and leaf thickness to make the vines more resilient to the prevailing wind, as well as powdery mildew.

Vine canopy in leaf beside a wider view of the vineyard rows

“I use Sectormentor as a Barometer of how the vine has developed, how many buds have burst, how many shoots do I have, how many clusters do I have and what do we need to drop. That information tells me if I have a problem like necrosis, if I have to shoot thin or if I need do a green harvest.” – Luke Spalding, Everflyht Vineyard

By monitoring bud counts, shoot counts and cluster counts with Sectormentor for Vines, Luke gets a good idea for how the vines are doing and if there are any issues. For example, if he does a bud count and then a shoot count, and finds only 60% of the buds have shoots, he knows there is a problem with necrosis or blind buds and can make a decision on how to manage this in the future. 

Growing degree days for a season also provide helpful and informative data for Luke; from several years of monitoring he has found anything higher than -70 GDD in March means bud burst will happen in the first week of April. As Luke points out, “In a cooler climate where everything is so marginal this type of data is really important and can make a huge difference to successful vineyard management.”

Recording vine data on a phone in the row, with a close-up of the Sectormentor app screen

We’re excited to continue following Luke’s journey; if you’d like to hear more about what he is up to read this blog post on trialling cover crops, mulching and biodiversity at Everflyht Vineyard.

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Chalk House Vineyard

Know your Vines #8: See patterns in how your grapes are ripening & predict your harvest date earlier
Know your Vines #8: See patterns in how your grapes are ripening & predict your harvest date earlier 2000 1333 Sectormentor

In our Know your Vines blog series we share practical tips on what metrics to monitor in your vineyard. This is the eighth instalment, stay tuned for more as the seasons unfold! “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.”

Monitor grape sugar and acidity to get the balance just right – all made easier with our Grape Ripeness Indicator Tool

As we get closer to harvest, life is getting sweeter for grapes! They are beginning to ripen, with sugars generally increasing whilst acidity is dropping. Many vineyards monitor sugar and acidity levels as harvest approaches to help to decide when to start picking. Of course, this is not purely a science, as we are looking to make delicious wine, so tasting the grapes is a key part of the equation. It’s the combination of the art of taste, and the science of sugar and acidity levels that helps ensure you have a smooth well-timed harvest for each block in the vineyard.

Looking down a vineyard row under the canopy at the trained trunks

Vines at Rathfinny Vineyard

Monitoring sugar and acidity levels
Post veraison, vineyard managers & winemakers will regularly monitor the sugar and acidity levels of grapes across the vineyard. A refractometer is used to measure grape sugar, giving a Brix or Oechsle reading. Titratable acid, the total acid content in grape juice, is important for balancing a wine and is measured by neutralising the grape juice with an alkaline solution. It’s important to take a representative sample of grapes when measuring these and to use the same juice for both tests to get a real understanding of the sugar to acid ratio.

These are two of the ten key metrics to monitor in the vineyard. Sectormentor makes it quick and easy to record all this information & share it with the vineyard and winemaking team so they can see what is happening with the grapes.

Chalk House Vineyard

Veraison at Chalk House Vineyard

Using the Sectormentor Grape Ripeness Indicator Tool

When you record sugar and acidity readings using Sectormentor, we automatically plot them on a graph. This makes it easy to see how the ripening is progressing, as it’s not always linear. Weather events have a big impact on ripening and it is helpful to see this displayed graphically.

Chart comparing grape weight and disease readings across vineyard blocks over a season

Davenport Vineyards sugar and acidity levels for different varieties in 2018

Every block with a different variety, clone and rootstock behaves differently, so with this data you may start to see patterns and relationships between blocks. In the graph above you can see how the sugar and acidity levels vary for each variety, and the difference in how quickly each one ripens. Will at Davenport Vineyards uses this information to plan when to harvest each variety, and the graph is easy to share with his team.

Two charts tracking readings across vineyard blocks through the season

Davenport Vineyards comparison of sugar and acidity levels year on year for a single variety

By comparing ripeness data year on year for the same block it’s possible to identify patterns particular to each block. How long does ripening tend to take for this block? Is this year similar to 2016? Comparing to other similar years will also help you predict harvest dates based on the ripening trajectory.

Are you already using Sectormentor to monitor sugar and acidity? Log into your Sectormentor account online to try our updated Grape Ripeness Indicator. You’ll find it in the ‘Tools’ section – let us know what you think!

Find out how Sectormentor helps you record data & manage your vines for the best quality grapes: get in touch here or check out 10 key metrics to monitor in your vineyard.

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Green grape bunches on the vine at the growth stage used to check bunch weights

Know your vines #7: How to optimise your yield prediction and the power of the Yield Predictor Tool – PART 2
Know your vines #7: How to optimise your yield prediction and the power of the Yield Predictor Tool – PART 2 5184 3456 Sectormentor

In our Know your Vines blog series we share practical tips on what metrics to monitor in your vineyard. This is the seventh instalment, stay tuned for more as the seasons unfold! “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.”

Use bunch weights at lag phase and veraison to optimise yield prediction

In part 1 we looked at optimising your yield prediction by getting accurate bunch counts. As we move through the season there is more information available to us, allowing for our yield predictions to be optimised even further. Part 2 of yield optimisation starts with weighing actual bunches in lag phase, or at veraison, and then again at regular intervals in the run up to harvest. Last-minute losses due to disease can also be taken into account at this stage. Many thanks to Luke Spalding at Chalk House Vineyard for sharing his tips and tricks for getting a good yield prediction.

Third prediction: Weigh bunches at lag phase or veraison
For the next step of your yield prediction it is time to start weighing your bunches! This can be done at lag phase, or veraison. Weighing bunches at this stage you get a better idea of what the bunch weight will be for each varietal this year. Theoretically lag phase is about 55 days after 50% flowering*. In fact, this is one reason why recording 50% flowering is important – so you can identify when lag phase will happen.

*This is based on studies done with Pinot Noir in Oregon State. In more variable cool climates, like the UK, due to the stop-start growing season impacting both flowering and grape berry development stage II (lag phase), the number of days can vary much more (It’s important to always be observing!).

The lag phase prediction method is often thought to be the most accurate when done correctly, however as Chalk House vineyard manager Luke Spalding explained, “For many people the best time to start weighing bunches is veraison – it’s easy to see when that is, so you don’t have to worry about counting the number of days since 50% flowering for each varietal. The issue is that for some vineyards, waiting until veraison is too late, they need to be able to get a more accurate yield prediction as early as possible.”

Green grape bunches on the vine at the growth stage used to check bunch weights

Whether you choose to start measuring actual bunch weights at lag phase or veraison, the method is very similar. You need to go out and randomly select as many bunches as is reasonable from each block (Luke recommends 15-25 bunches per 1000 vines for smaller vineyards). We have seen a number of different methods used by different vineyard managers to select random bunches in a bay. Two options are:

  1. Select a mix of 1st, 2nd (and 3rd bunches if you have them)
  2. Select every other bunch in one random bay

Once you have selected your bunches from the block, you are now ready to weigh your bunches. You just need an average bunch weight, so if you know how many bunches you picked, then you can weigh them all together and divide the total weight by the number picked to get the average.

Use the bunch weight multiplier
Veraison yield prediction table showing actual bunch weights and estimated yield for each vineyard block
Yield prediction calculation using bunch weights and multiplier

The rule of thumb is that in a ‘normal’ year, your bunches will increase in weight by a factor of 1.65-1.9. We call that number the weight multiplier.  The multiplier differs for lag phase and veraison.

At this point you start to really optimise your yield prediction to be much more accurate. This is the first time you have got a real idea of the bunch weights for this year. Go to the yield predictor tool, enter in the average bunch weights for each block, and adapt the multiplier to ~1.65 for veraison weights, or ~1.8 for lag phase weights. Of course getting the multiplier right is key, which is why it’s important to measure bunch weights at lag/veraison each year, and then again at harvest. This allows you to understand the weight multiplier for each of your varietals/clones. If you don’t have any previous data then using a weight multiplier of around 1.65 (veraison) or 1.8 (lag phase) initially is a good place to start.

Optimising yield prediction year on year
With the yield predictor tool you can now compare how this prediction compares to your previous prediction, and you can easily see the total predicted weight for the vineyard as well as the predicted yield for each block. In the previous prediction you were using average weights, now you are using actual weights from this year with a multiplier – does it look too high or too low? If things are looking exceedingly good this year, then maybe do another yield prediction with a weight multiplier of 2 – for example the harvest of 2019 in the UK people were seeing weight multipliers of 2 or more from veraison to harvest, but that was of course a very unusually prolific year. Also there can be considerable variation between different varietals when it comes to the weight multiplier, so if you do have past years data then it’s best to customise the weight multipliers for each block based on the history at your site.

Fourth prediction: Include last minute losses due to disease/pest pressures
Yield prediction table adjusted to include expected botrytis loss for each block
Yield prediction calculation including potential loss from Botrytis

To see how things are progressing you can go out and weigh more bunches 4 weeks after veraison. How have the bunches developed? How much bigger will they get by harvest?

Of course there can be unforeseen issues with disease pressure in the final weeks. This is easily accounted for in the yield predictor by adding in what % of the crop you have lost due to the problem. This will update your yield prediction estimates in the final stages of your yield prediction journey.

Picker carrying a crate of grapes between vineyard rows at harvest

Weigh bunches at harvest
It is key to measure the average bunch weight at harvest and enter that into Sectormentor too. You can either go and pick random bunches on the morning of harvesting a particular block, or you can harvest the sample bays from each block before harvesting the rest of each block (you have already counted the number of bunches for sample bays so you can easily work out the average bunch weight by weighing all the bunches that are harvested from that bay).

This number of average bunch weight at harvest is vital so that in future years you can figure out what the actual veraison-harvest weight multiplier is for each block in your vineyard. It also helps to get a very good idea of your average harvest bunch weight for a particular block over many years, so that those early predictions that rely on this weight become more and more accurate.

It’s an art and a science..
Yield estimation is a real art. The more in tune you are with your vineyard and the more you know your vines, the easier it will become – if you are consistently getting within 15% of the actual yield then that is considered good in cool climates. However, if you are very committed and refine the details, meticulously measuring bunch weights at lag/veraison and harvest each year, getting clear on your weight multipliers for each block, then many vineyard managers believe you should be able to get within 5% accuracy every time.

Check out 10 key metrics to monitor in your vineyard and find out how our app Sectormentor for Vines helps you record data & manage your vines for the best quality grapes

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Pouring water into a mesh basket to run a slake test on vineyard soil

How alive is your soil? Assessing soil health at Bee Tree Vineyard with Vine-Works
How alive is your soil? Assessing soil health at Bee Tree Vineyard with Vine-Works 800 534 Sectormentor

We’re working with vineyards on exploring soil health monitoring and the value it can bring to the enterprise. Bee Tree Vineyard in West Sussex is owned and run by Vine-Works, who also provide a suite of management services from planting through to harvest for vineyards across the UK. They use their 1.5 hectare site of vines to trial new management approaches which they might then apply to vineyards they manage for their clients.

Digging a soil pit between the vine rows

Healthy soil should be brimming with biological life and full of carbon sequestered by a diverse range of plants. Plants exude sugars into the soil through their roots during their vegetative growth, feeding micro-organisms in the soil, which can in turn unlock nutrients for plants to take up when they need them. Micro-organisms also secrete glues and slimes which hold the soil structure together, forming aggregates – the basis of healthy soil. This aggregated structure allows water and air to easily percolate around and through it, so the soil will be able to hold more water deep down in its profile for when plants really need it, as well as remain aerobic.

Hand holding a crumb of vineyard soil with grass roots, assessed for soil structure

Synthetic and chemical inputs such as herbicides and nitrogen fertiliser, as well as turning the soil, can disrupt plant root-soil interactions and hence disrupt feeding the vital soil biology. Vine-Works have been investigating how to reduce reliance on inputs and manage soil biology positively at Bee Tree Vineyard. The Vine-Works team have replaced undervine herbicide usage with a mechanical undervine weeder which they have found very effective. They’re also trying a new type of chicken manure compost pellet made by ‘Cloud-Agro’ to further feed the life in the soil.

Improving soil biology by increasing plant and root diversity is one of the first steps on the journey to reducing inputs in a vineyard. Vine-Works have been trialling different mixes of cover crops with diverse root systems in the rows in between vines to improve soil biology. When we visited Bee Tree Vineyard we chose sample sites to assess soil health based on the different cover crops to see how these have affected soil structure and biology. Bee Tree are one of our first vineyards to start recording soil health observations using Sectormentor. These first tests form their ‘soil health baseline’ so they can understand where their soil is at now and where they want to go in the future.

By comparing between different rows that were next to each other but had been managed slightly differently we were already able to see some stark differences in how the soil was structured and stored water. One row where the cover crop sewed this Spring had never taken performed significantly worse than the neighbouring row with a cover crop that was well established from the year before. It has already enabled Vine-Works to change some of their management strategy, in that they will now plant their cover in Autumn to give it plenty of chance to establish and reduce the risk of bare soil!

We wanted to talk you through exactly what we did, the different tests and what they mean:

Group assessing vineyard soil structure in the alley with a spade

Our first sample site was a block of Cabernet Blanc with a deep rooting cover crop planted in between the rows, including radish, chicory and cocksfoot grass in the mix. These plant species are good at getting roots down into the soil, breaking it up, and bringing nutrients up from below. We saved the exact location of the sample site using GPS coordinates in the Sectormentor app. This means the team can go back to the same place in 6 months or a year and test again to see how things have changed.

Green cover crop in the alley between vine rows with a bare strip under the vines

First we dug out a spade’s width soil pit and visually assessed the soil structure (VESS test) for both under the vines and in the row. Under the vines the soil structure was quite blocky, but it did break down relatively easily in one hand. It was slightly better in the row under the cover crop, where the first inch of soil in the rooting area was nicely aggregated, but the clay got harder and blockier as we moved down the profile.

Examining a spadeful of vineyard soil during a soil health assessment

Next we did a Slake test, submerging 1p sized bits of the soil in a sieve in water and observing how quickly it broke down. The soil under the cover crops did well in the slake test, only losing around 20% of its structure. If the soil is alive with micro-organisms the structure will be held together with glues and slimes they secrete, and so it will not break down so much in water. If the soil is held together by compaction, it will break down easily. This test gives you an idea for biological life in the soil and how much soil could be running off your vineyard in heavy rain.

Two soil aggregates sitting in water-filled sieves during a slake test in the vineyard

Finally we did Infiltration Rate test by knocking a 150mm tube into the ground and pouring in an inch of water. This gives an idea for how easily water can percolate into the ground and be stored there, instead of running off and into water courses. The infiltration rate was very slow under the vines, suggesting water can easily run off from this area. However it infiltrated faster into the cover crop, which is good news as it  suggests rain water will be better stored in the soil for drier periods when the plants need it. The Vine-Works team used Sectormentor to record all these results so they can start to compare them with other sample sites across the vineyard.

Digging beneath a vine to take a soil sample, with an infiltration ring on the ground

Next we headed next to a block of Pinot Noir with a different cover crop in between the vines, a mix including clover and trefoil. Clover is a legume and has the capacity to fix nitrogen in the soil on nodules on its roots. Here we found the cover crop had not established as well as the deeper rooting cover we previously tested.

Dense green cover crop growing in the alley between vine rows

There was much more bare soil in the row, which means there are no living roots feeding the soil in these places and the soil is more at risk of running off with heavy rain. The Vine-Works team recorded the % of bare soil, broadleaves, grasses and undesirables in the Sectormentor app, so they can assess how well they are improving plant diversity. We dug out a soil block and instantly noticed how much drier and blockier it was than the soil at the first sample site. It was harder to break down with one hand, breaking up into angular blocks. So, it didn’t score as well on the VESS test as the first site!

Vineyard worker breaking apart a soil clod beside a dug hole to assess structure

Now onto the slake test, placing 1p pieces of soil into water; due to the high clay content in the soil it held together relatively well, but still broke down more than the first sample site, losing more than 30% of its structure, showing that there is less biological life in this soil.

Pouring water into a mesh basket to run a slake test on vineyard soil

We really struggled to get the infiltration rate tube into the ground, showing compaction issues, which were corroborated by the very slow infiltration rate both in the row and under the vines. The Vine-Works team recorded all the soil test results and the GPS location of the pinot noir sample in Sectormentor; in the future they will be able to see the sample site on the map and get back to it easily to test again and see if things have improved.

Slake test kit laid out in the vineyard with a mesh basket, a bowl of water and a wooden board

At the second sample site the lack of establishment of the cover crop had clearly affected the soil health in that part of the vineyard, whereas at the first sample site the soil biology had started to get going. It was exciting to see so clearly how the different cover crops had affected soil health, allowing the Vine-Works team to understand what’s happening below ground and make decisions on how to move forward with improving soil health. The team went onto sample another site in the Pinot Noir block which had the deep rooting cover crop and did an ‘under the hedge’ test to get an idea for how good the soil could be. For an ‘under the hedge’ test you find a completely undisturbed spot of soil, by a hedge or in a woodland, which has not had any intervention. This will give you an idea for what the soil biology and structure could be like!

“I found the soil health tests very interesting, it’s changing how I think about vineyard management.” – Matt, Vine-Works

So, what’s next on the soil health journey for Vine-Works & Bee Tree? Soil monitoring regularly will help them understand the impact of different vineyard management techniques on their soil health. After varying success at establishing cover crops this season they plan to sow their cover crops this year just after harvest (Oct/Nov) rather than in Spring. From the VESS, infiltration rate and slake tests they could easily see just how negative the impact of bare soil from a poorly established cover crop can be, so by sewing in Autumn it will guarantee plenty of water to get the cover crop established. It was also clear that undervine cultivation was greatly slowing the infiltration time under the vines, so they are much more likely to get serious run off and leaching of nutrients from this soil. They have plans to try alpine plants under the vines next season, which will provide perennial cover and living roots in the soil all year round. These are hardy plants which do not need reseeding, so it’s an exciting trial!

In the autumn the team will be heading out to do earthworm counts, as it was too dry to do them when we visited this time. Earthworms are one of the best indicators of biological life in the soil, as if they are plentiful and present and active, many of the microorganisms will be too.

Find out how Sectormentor helps you monitor soil health in your vineyard & learn how your soil is changing. Contact us if you have questions!

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