There are also new mechanical harvesters that have optical sorters attached that can sort each berry, rejecting those that are underripe or otherwise flawed, she said.

Companies like ETS, Enologix and Wine Xray have tools to help advance the link between vines and wines, too. Each has a suite of evaluative assays for examining elements in both grapes and wine.

“Our technology allows winemakers to see what is going on with their wines as they ferment before any negative issues arise,” said Gordon Burns, co-owner of ETS Wine Labs in St. Helena. “It used to be we could evaluate why a wine failed after the fact, but now we can head off many issues before they become problems. We use various techniques to help provide a window into the process. For example, our DNA-fingerprinting tools allow a winemaker to get a handle on which yeast or other microbes are present and active.”

Because different yeasts provide different flavors and aromatic profiles, winemakers are keen to have certain populations most active during fermentation. And because other microbes might cause negative flavors or even cause the wine to go bad, DNA-fingerprinting can highlight when an unwanted microbe is present while at levels that they can be dealt with prior to causing any negative issues.