With rising global temperatures posing a threat to agriculture, some wineries are turning to artificial intelligence to better prepare for unpredictable weather patterns.
“AI is helping us be more resilient,” says Will Drayton, director of sustainability and science at Treasury Wine Estates. “So it doesn’t stop climate change, but helps us to be more resilient in the face of climate change.”
The Beringer and Matua winemaker is using AI today to help model “what if” scenarios to more nimbly plan for huge swings in temperature that drastically impact yield during the harvest season. AI can also help predict fermentation conditions and improve irrigation methods.
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Alcoholic beverage brands are still in the early innings of deploying AI, and beyond improvements to irrigation, an increasing number of companies are using the technology to inform the chemistry that goes into making a wine, beer, or spirit, with the ultimate goal of creating new brands or flavors that will be a hit with consumers.
The industry could certainly use a lift. Global demand for alcoholic beverages declined in 2023, with scant growth projected for this year and 2025, according to data and insights provider IWSR.
In the United States, younger adults are drinking less alcohol than prior generations, a trend that’s impacting each industry differently. Beer has been badly bruised for years, with consumption at its lowest annual level since 1999. Winemakers are struggling to attract millennials and Gen Z drinkers. And even the more resilient liquor industry posted its first decline in volume in 2023 in nearly 30 years, IWSR reports.
Treasury says some of the more advanced technologies—including automation and robotics—that it deploys tend to favor larger brands, like Beringer. But many of the AI investments permeate across the company’s portfolio in the U.S. and markets abroad including Australia and New Zealand.
The company uses AI for more precise irrigation. Sensors keep track of the water pressure and flag when lines may be inefficient, like when coyotes chew through drip lines. The data flows through AI models that make recommendations on when to address the problems.
“With the 100-plus-degree weather that we’re having in California right now, being on top of irrigation issues obviously saves yield and quality,” Drayton says.
Sicilian-based winery Donnafugata similarly uses the technology to help combat the invasion of European moths.
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