After rain, the pressure on the vines increases. The leaves remain damp, creating ideal conditions for fungal diseases. On days like these, timing is everything. Organic plant protection products must be applied quickly and precisely.
At the same time, the ground is wet. In the past, that often meant waiting, weighing your options, and driving carefully. Tracked vehicles leave tracks. They compact the soil. On steep plots and cross-terraces, they reach their limits—sometimes very delicate ones.
When the soil needs to be protected
Starting this year, we’ve been using a drone on large portions of our vineyards. Our drone pilot, Guérin, assists the vineyard team during the summer. During the harvest, he works alongside Nicolas in the cellar.
That way, knowledge isn't limited to the technology itself. It travels along with the class.
The drone takes off when the ground is still too wet to drive on. It is controlled from inside the vehicle. It leaves no tracks in the ground and does not compact the soil. Especially on steep slopes, it reduces the risk for the team.
In crop protection, there’s often only a short window of time in the morning—before it gets too warm, before the wind picks up, and before application becomes imprecise. The drone helps us respond more quickly, especially on the cross-terraces.
Not every new solution is automatically better
We deliberately waited to adopt this technology. It wasn't until the drones became more powerful and the spray pattern became more precise that we made the decision.
Today, the drone flies along pre-planned routes. More consistently, more precisely, and with less fuel consumption. This is important because biological pest control is only effective if it is applied at the right time and as precisely as possible exactly where the vine needs it.
A well-thought-out decision
The energy issue is also part of this. The drone is electric. We charge its batteries on the vehicle using a battery pack. This battery pack is then recharged in the afternoon using our own solar power. This way, we don’t need a gasoline-powered generator, as is often the case.
In the end, it’s not a grand spectacle in the sky. It’s a decision made in the vineyard. For safer work. For more vibrant soils. For more precise organic pest control. For a vintage that isn’t just created in the cellar, but where rain, wind, stone, and the vine all play a part every day.
