A drone demonstration at Bernard Magrez's Chateau Pape Clement in April this year
An alliance of Burgundy’s wine council, Airbus air defence engineers and Bordeaux wine magnate Bernard Magrez will fund the use of drones to detect killer vine diseases.
The consortium plans to spend up to €1.7m during the second phase of its 36-month-long drone project, named Damav, according to Burgundy’s wine trade body, the BIVB. It will be part-financed by the French state, with drones supplied by Novadem.
‘It’s not science fiction,’ said the consortium. ‘Images obtained using drones and interpreted using sophisticated analysis systems will, in the near future, constitute a key instrument of diagnosis for growers.’
Cecile Mathiaud, spokesperson for the BIVB, said the group’s next challenge is to ‘make sure that what the drone sees can be analyzed to get results, and to get better results than with the human eye. That will stop winemakers from having to check every single vine.’
In January this year, Bernard Magrez, who is also part of the alliance, will begin using drones to analyze vines in his four classified estates in Bordeaux.
Separately, the BIVB is also part of a second consortium that is researching ways to stimulate vines’ natural defenses against disease, without resorting to chemical sprays. That project will last 36 months, with a budget of €1.7m.
