I got the chance to talk to with Prof. Dr. Dominik Durner, an expert in wine science, currently serving as Professor of Food Technology & Enology at the Weincampus Neustadt in Germany. His work explores the intersection of winemaking and technology, focusing on AI-driven innovations such as the PINOT project (an artificial nose for wine) and SmartGrape (AI-based grape quality assessment).

Lucy Manukyan’s journey into the wine industry is anything but conventional. A plant scientist by training, Lucy began her career in biological sciences, with a focus on genetics and ecology. Her early research at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign involved genetic modification techniques aimed at improving crop yields for subsistence farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa.