The vineyards of Bordeaux could soon be patrolled by pilotless drone helicopters which will check the conditions of the vines.

Fly-n-sense's Scancopter 450 is capable of hovering just 1cm from the ground, or going as high as 260m up in the air, Decanter reports.

In addition, the drone is completely automatic, using GPS to travel up and down the vineyard, checking things such as grape maturity, water stress and the efficiency of treatments.

Chateau Luchey-Halde in Pessac-Leognan has been testing the device and Pierre Darriet, technical director at the estate, has been very impressed.

He told the publication: "We tested thermal and infra-red cameras, and the tests went very well.

"The drone clearly offers the chance of true precision viticulture, and is an efficient way to measure large or small parcels of vines at a microscopic level."

Critic Matt Kramer, writing for Wine Spectator, recently called upon Bordeaux to modernise its winemaking practices to compete with New World bottles.