Now, now: Wine has marched forward with technology since prehistoric Robert Mondavis began coating their clay jugs with resin as an antibacterial agent.

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Mr. ADAM LECHMERE (Online Editor, Decanter.com): With the advances in technology, and with vineyard management techniques, it's not difficult to make good wine nowadays.

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While winemaking in Napa became increasingly reliant on high technology, Mr. Draper was essentially making wine the same way it had been made for centuries, with minimal additions of sulfur as a preservative and not much else.

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