Once again this week, wildfires in California have captured headlines in a painful and devastating way. The wine industry is reeling. That’s a general statement, and we’d like to take a moment to recognize that it’s a personal statement as well. Friends, colleagues, clients and collaborators are all impacted directly and personally.

There are many ways to help, and many collections of resources. Let me suggest starting with this GoFundMe campaign which is focused on supporting farmworkers in the affected communities.

Thank you.

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What do New Delhi, Syracuse University, and the holographic universe all have in common?

Those were three locations of interest this week that I “visited” in relation to the forward edge of wine, data and technology.

Even though they seem like non-wine-data destinations, the work that’s happening in those places is helping to push the envelope of the next generation of possibility for our industry.

Where’s the sweet spot for the “next generation of possibility”? I think it lies somewhere between what’s currently happening and the forward edge of what seems realistic.

This is where the postcards from New Delhi, Syracuse and holographs come in.

• “Wine Analytics” is the course taught by Professor Burak Kazaz at Syracuse University’s Whitman School of Management. As a guest speaker in the course this week, I shared Enolytics’ story and fielded questions ranging from NFC chips to technological utopia.

• In addition, I gleaned some insights from the research being done throughout the program, and the directional thinking of the audience. That includes agricultural technology, which is related to the work being developed in New Delhi by the team behind VineClick and TerraView that I wrote about a few weeks ago.

• At the VR/AR Global Summit Online, I learned about the holographic experience developed at Siduri Winery in Santa Rosa by a collaborative team of technologists at Rock Paper Reality, 8th Wall and Microsoft. It’s pretty wild, I have to say. And completely fascinating.

Do these things push the envelope? Absolutely.

Are they part of the fabric of the wine industry today? Not for the majority, no. Not yet.

But they’re squarely in that sweet spot I mentioned earlier, between what’s currently happening on one hand and the forward edge on another, in terms of what seems realistic for the industry in general.

I find it inspiring, to know that these possibilities are already on our path and that consumers themselves are nudging more and more of us to get on board.

I’d love to hear about the sweet spot for you, between what’s currently happening and the forward edge of where you’d like it to be.

Please be in touch, and we’ll brainstorm some ideas.

Thank you for reading, as always –

Cathy