Harnessing Smart Technology in the Vineyard- How Cropsy’s AI is helping Pressley Vineyards farm smarter and craft better wine
A New Partnership
This winter, I teamed up with Cropsy, a New Zealand startup that uses artificial intelligence to capture vinebyvine data in real time. Cofounder Ali Alomari and his crew visited our estate in late February to give the system its first real world spin at Pressley Vineyards.
What the First Scan Revealed
In less than five hours, Cropsy’s cameras and AI model scanned all 50 acres of our Pinot Noir and delivered a detailed snapshot of vineyard health that would have taken weeks to gather by hand:
Metric Result
Normal vines 15,048
Young vines 7
Missing vines 92
Vines with a missing cordon 34
Average spurs per vine 20.15
Average buds per spur 1.9
These numbers allow us to pinpoint exactly where to replant, retrain, or adjust pruning—crucial for hitting our target yields. Remember the old viticulture adage: “You can take fruit off later, but you can’t put it back on.”
Fine Tuning Yield in Spring
Cropsy returned in early May to conduct a cluster count scan after shoot thinning. This second pass sharpens our tonnage forecast by showing the true clusters per-vine, letting us finetune crop load long before harvest.
Why It Matters
1. Uniformity = Quality
Consistent vine balance leads to even ripening and, ultimately, higher quality grapes.
2. Efficiency
What once required walking every row with a clicker now happens in a single
morning, freeing our team to focus on the nuanced fieldwork that makes great
wine.
3. Data Driven Decisions
Actionable, row level data helps us plan pruning, replanting, and canopy management with surgical precision.
Looking Ahead
Early results are exciting, but this is just the beginning. As Cropsy’s AI continues to learn our vineyard’s unique patterns, we’ll gain deeper insights—translating to better farming practices and even more expressive wines in your glass.
Stay tuned for more updates from the vineyard—and, as always, thank you for
supporting Pressley Vineyards!
— Charlie Hamilton
Left to right Charlie, Ali and Cropy Team member
Cropsy Team Member in the Vineyard
