New technology will soon be available to wine producers. Robots are being developed which will be able completely to maintain the vineyard. There will be robots which can drive between the vines to clear away weeds. Robots will be able to recognise diseased leaves and remove or treat them with insecticides and fungicides.
Spur and cane training and pruning will be controlled by our automated friends. The wood and wire supports for the vines will also be maintained automatically.
Automated analysis of the soil will allow robots to treat the ground with fertilisers and control the acidity and mineral balance of the growing substrate.
Automated cloches will protect the vines in the winter and will ensure that the vines are supplied with the exact quantity of UV light either from the sun or lamps.
Automated irrigation will ensure that the vines are supplied with the exact quantity of water required for optimal and scheduled growth.
Robots will be able to detect which grapes are ripe and ready for picking.
Machines will harvest the grapes and transport them automatically to the winery.
Robots will be used to deter insect and animal pests and will patrol the vineyard to ensure that humans cannot damage the growth too.
There will hardly be a requirement either for traditional farmers or vineyard workers. Everything will be managed by a technician at a computer console or using a 'phone app. The "farmer" could operate from anywhere.
You may think that this is impossible but very soon automated machines will be deployed by farmers to harvest their wheat and grain crops. These machines will be controlled by computers using artificial intelligence. Their fields will be mapped by GPS systems which will control movements down to the centimetre. Hopper lorries to transport the grain to barns will also be controlled by computer. Seeding operations can be controlled likewise. The machines will drive themselves automatically from garage to field. Our farmer cousins in France have confirmed that farming co-operatives will be operating like this in the near future. What can happen in a grain field can also happen in a vineyard but of course growing vines is more complicated.
Within twenty years it will be possible to completely automate vineyard operations. Most vineyard workers will become unemployed. There will then be a shortage of workers experienced enough to do work for the few traditional growers and the price of their labour will go up. Also, many traditional operators will be put out of business by the automated operators. The number of growers producing individually managed crops to produce individually tasting wines will be reduced. Top quality wines will get more and more expensive.
We are heading for a wine world of complete standardisation and homogenisation. Enjoy a good Bordeaux or Burgundy while you can. There is more to follow.
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