The winemaking 4.0 has become a reality for the group Mastroberadino. The Irpinia wine company, now in its 11th generation and known throughout the world for its Taurasi Radici, after the shock of Covid and the progressive imposition of the 4.0 evolution in the agricultural sector, has been carrying out a multi-year program for some years of digital projects involving from logistics to harvesting, from vineyard management to hospitality alongside the strategic partner Rsm. “To produce our wine we use both proprietary vineyards and those of third parties who have supported us for a long time” underlines a Truth and Business Giuseppe Calabrese, CEO of Mastroberardino “and we are convinced that Industry 4.0 can help us better produce small quantities of our 25 wines throughout the production process. Practically. we have obtained the advantages of industrial production even with the numbers of an artisanal one”.
The vineyards networked
Thus began the automation of agricultural processes, which made it possible to connect vineyards through sensors inserted in microzones to monitor weather and humidity through precision agriculture. This process adds to the sustainability path started in 2011 with the Viva Protocol and with the use of integrated pest management to reduce the chemical products used in the vineyard. Furthermore, again thanks to a network of sensors, Mastroberardino has cut the fuel consumption of tractors, while in the cellar technology 4.0 has allowed remote monitoring of the pressing (diversified based on the various types of wine), but also the aging in barrels and steel tanks, where areas with different temperatures have been created.
2 million euros recovered
“The individual investments have produced an improvement in the control capabilities of the plants, in a centralized and semi-automated way through remote monitoring technologies, and an increase in their elasticity, useful for making even smaller production batches more economically efficient” he underlined Laura Lisa, partner funding and development leader of Rsm. “The investments, in addition to making the production process more efficient, have had an important impact in terms of tracking the supply chain. Aspect of fundamental importance considering the information evidence required by the DOC or IGP certifications of the company’s wine production. For the introduction of the integrated winemaking system in a 4.0 key, with only the tax credits for investments in 4.0 capital goods located in the south, Mastroberardino has recovered over 2 million euros in the three-year period 2020-2022 alone”.
We are also focusing on photovoltaics
“They consume enough energy” continued Calabrese “and we use 90% of it to maintain temperatures and for this reason we have created a photovoltaic system on the historic building which is worth a third of our needs”. The next objective is to “also integrate the reception and receptivity part. The structure is a farmhouse with 12 rooms where we want to achieve greater energy efficiency and improve the customer experience”.