Design and Validation of a Decision Support System for Oenologists

Abstract

An important part of winemaking process depends on the oenologist. They determine when to pick the grapes, assign the vats and presses to process the wine, and manage operations within the winery. This requires making many decisions in a short period of time and with uncertain information. It is clear that oenologists would greatly benefit from decision support systems tailored to their needs. However, until now, most of them have been reluctant to use them. This work focuses on DSSs designed to overcome this resistance. A prototype system was designed and validated with oenologists who participated in a collaborative research project whose objective was to develop improvements in the oenological process in order to provide oenologists with tools that give them more security and flexibility in the transformation process of the grape into wine.