Vintage computing [Use of computers in winemaking]

Wine making is a craft that goes back thousands of years, to before the time of the ancient Greeks. Over the centuries, European growers have developed traditional approaches to well-defined regional wines. However, modern American winemakers are finding that computers and related information technology can help them make fine wines in relatively small amounts for a luxury market and produce mass-market (bulk) wines for the supermarket. Wineries that focus on fine-wine production tend to use computers for managing the grape-growing process and tracking barrels during the fermentation process. Bulk-wine producers in the US also use computer technology, but their processes are more closely tied to chemical engineering-the transformation of mass amounts of substances. For luxury wines, the Europeans have developed different regional wine making operations for well-defined appellations. In the US, this has meant developing correct operations for Napa versus Sonoma counties in California, for example.