Labor shortages prompt increased mechanical grape harvesting in North Bay
The message was clear Wednesday in an auditorium full of wine industry professionals: Machines are taking over the grape harvesting.
Vineyard managers who spoke at the 24th annual Vineyard Economics Symposium at the Copia educational center in Napa were in agreement that they were turning more toward machines to replace humans for various agricultural jobs given the dearth of available workers and the increasing costs to employ them. They differed only on how quickly the pace of the change to fewer people working in the vineyards will take place.
“Most of our contracts that we are doing now, we are trying to make sure growers can machine pick,” said Matt Heil, director of fruit supply at Copper Cane Wine & Provisions in the Napa Valley. His company uses machines in 85% to 90% of grape picks in the North and Central coasts with hand-picks saved for when it is necessary.
“The quality is there and (human) labor is just going to be really difficult,” Heil said at the Napa event sponsored by Wine Business Monthly.
Read more: https://napavalleyregister.com/news/local/labor-shortages-prompt-increased-mechanical-grape-harvesting-in-north-bay/article_7a734ce8-6134-598b-a89c-b729ca6b9343.html
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Nope, and I believe you left a zero off their ridiculous price. 
Opus One was the overpriced one we talked about back in my day, priced at something like $160 a bottle (I'm dating myself). I had an opportunity to taste it once, and it tasted just as nice as any other Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. What's this Screaming Eagle got in it, infused sinsemilla and opium?
That's so cool.
I do know that Mondavi switched to smaller lugs so that seeds wouldn't be accidently crushed by the weight of their own grapes. But that was nearly 15 years ago -- before, perhaps, the new crusher/destemmers you mention.
60 pound picking lugs of grapes are tossed right into the bins, then the long skinny trailers (6 or 8 bins?) are hauled to the crushers where a forklift takes over. I visited the injection plant when I purchased my Macro bins. Mondavi's bins are branded, mine are not. Ironically, more crushing occurs when individual picking bins are stacked eight high on a truck bed than with the 24 inch deep Macro bins, but absolutely not enough to crush the seed.
I stopped making wine, but I still have most of a equipment; my crusher is out on permanent loan.
