Napa, Calif.—The 2015 Vintage Report Innovation Award competition is now seeking submissions for the award that honors innovation and sustainability in viticulture through a project conducted during this year’s harvest. The winners will be announced at the Vintage Report conference in Napa.

This year's judges include acclaimed experts and leaders in the industry: Dr. James A. Kennedy, professor and chair, Department of Viticulture and Enology, California State University, Fresno; Linda Reiff, president and chief executive office, Napa Valley Vintners; Luis Sanchez, senior research scientist, E. & J. Gallo Winery (winner of the 2014 Vintage Report Innovation Award) and Mike Wolf, vineyard manager and owner, Michael Wolf Vineyard Services.

Last year's winning approach was a collaborative experiment by Gallo and IBM that used a variable-rate irrigation system across separate quadrants of a 31-acre Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard. The result decreased vineyard spatial variability and increased water-use efficiency without compromising quality during a period of historic drought.

To be eligible for the Vintage Report Innovation Award presented by Bank of the West, approaches must be used during the 2015 vintage (though they may have started earlier), and the techniques must be implemented in or exportable to Napa terroirs. The winner will be announced at Fruition Sciences' 2015 Vintage Report conference in January 2016.