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Use Case | March 2023 – January 2025

 

Location

​Daro Vineyard

California, Russian River Valley

Dry-farmed Pinot Noir vineyard (30+ years old)

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Overview

 

From March 2023 to January 2025, Fidelio deployed its plant-centered acoustic technology in a 30-year-old dry-farmed Pinot Noir vineyard in California.

 

The objective was not to change farming practices or increase inputs, but to support plant physiology and soil biological activity in a mature vineyard already performing near its historical ceiling.

 

Over two growing seasons, the vineyard showed:

 

• a significant increase in yield,

• no additional irrigation or chemical inputs,

• and persistent biological signals visible at the soil surface, extending well beyond harvest.

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Context & Starting Point (Pre-2023)

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• Mature Pinot Noir vines (30+ years), dry-farmed

• Baseline production around 4.5 tons per acre, already considered solid for dry farming

• Increasing climatic stress (heat variability, water limitation)

• Desire to improve resilience and performance without altering genetics, irrigation, or soil inputs

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Deployment Timeline & Results

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Phase 1 — Initial Activation (March – October 2023)

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• RegenApp frequencies deployed across a defined block of the vineyard

• No changes to:

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  • irrigation (none),

  • fertilization,

  • pruning,

  • or cover crop management

• Continuous operation during the active growing season

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Observed effects

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• Improved vine uniformity within the treated zone

• Strong photosynthetic activity despite dry conditions

• Balanced vegetative growth consistent with mature vines

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Phase 2 — Yield Progression (Harvest 2023 → 2024)

Following deployment:

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• Yield increased from ~4.5 tons per acre to 6 tons per acre

• Achieved under dry-farming conditions, without additional inputs
   

For 30-year-old Pinot Noir vines, this increase is agronomically significant.

It indicates not only higher productivity, but improved system efficiency rather than overstimulation.
 

Phase 3 — Juice Panel & Fruit Quality (Harvest 2025)

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The 2025 juice panel provided an important qualitative confirmation of the system’s balance.

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Key observations from the juice analysis included:

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• Good sugar–acid balance, consistent with controlled ripening

• Stable acidity, supporting freshness and structure

• Well-developed phenolic expression, without excessive extraction potential

• No signs of dilution or stress-related imbalance, despite higher yields

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These results are particularly relevant because they show that:

➡️ increased yield did not come at the expense of juice quality.

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In mature Pinot Noir, this balance is difficult to achieve and often compromised when yields rise.

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Phase 4 — Soil Expression & Persistence (2024 → January 2025)

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Beyond vine performance, a clear signal emerged at the soil surface:

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• A dense, uniform cover of brome grass developed within the treated area

• Dominance decreased progressively with distance from RegenApp coverage

• In the adjacent untreated field:

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  • brome was present, but not dominant

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• Outside the vineyard:

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  • brome largely disappeared

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This spatial pattern persisted through January 2025.

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Interpretation: A Biological Indicator of System Activation

Brome is a fast-responding species that thrives when:

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• root activity is high,

• soil microbiology is active,

• nutrients already present in the soil become more available.

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In this vineyard, the surface area covered by brome functioned as a living indicator of where the soil–plant system was most active.

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Rather than being introduced or forced, vegetation self-organized in response to localized soil conditions linked to plant physiological activity.

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This provided a rare opportunity to:

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• infer the effective zone of influence of RegenApp,

• observe persistence beyond harvest,

• and connect yield, juice quality, and soil biology into a single coherent system response.

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Key Outcomes (March 2023 – January 2025)
 

• Yield increase from 4.5 to 6 tons per acre under dry farming

• Maintained juice quality and phenolic balance at higher yield

• No irrigation, no chemical inputs, no genetic modification

• Persistent soil biological activation visible through vegetation patterns

• Clear spatial differentiation between treated and untreated areas

• Effects observable beyond the growing season

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Technologies can support agriculture by amplifying natural processes, rather than replacing them
 

Summary

This 30-year-old Pinot Noir vineyard did more than improve its yield.

From March 2023 to January 2025, it demonstrated that:

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• a dry-farmed system can move from 4.5 to 6 tons per acre,

• maintain juice quality and phenolic integrity,

• and leave a visible, persistent signature in the soil itself.
   

The vineyard did not just perform better.

It revealed how a living system responds — and remembers — when its natural processes are supported rather than forced.