Although 2012 has been a disastrous year for many soft fruits, and cereal growing regions along the Eastern and Southern edges of Europe have suffered under drought conditions over the summer, the year looks set to be a good one for many of Europe’s wine producers.

The grape harvest has begun in Southern France, where numerous celebrated wine regions are located. Conditions, which looked worrying in July, improved across Europe during August, with only the UK and Ireland seeing a continuation of the wash-out which marred spring and early summer 2012.  

Vintners in the South have said 2012 could be a promising year for wine. Some vintners have even employed satellite technology to optimise their grapes. The satellite images show differences in ripeness and soil type, which enable farmers to time the harvest precisely and identify the best quality grapes.

Growers have said that, since they began using satellite imaging, they have been able to improve the quality of their grapes, and can time fertiliser applications and pruning better.

However, the service is not cheap, and this means it is only available to rich growers or large cooperatives. As a result, only a handful of growers are using the satellite technology in France.

However, one grower, Pierre Pastre, manager of a notable vineyard in the southern Rhône who uses the imaging on his entire 31 hectare estate, told news agency Reuters yesterday that the results more than make up for the price tag and revealed satellite imaging is being increasingly adopted by growers around the world.

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