http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8334688.stm
this link goes to a really interesting article I found in BBC's technology section. It talks about using satellite imaging on vineyards to determine "vine leaf density, soil water content and grape bunch sizes." This system has helped the French and will help the English produce top quality grapes.
I always knew that Europeans cared a great deal about their wine but using a satellite is really intense.
This article also made me think how our drinking age is far higher than that in European countries yet, the US has more alcohol related accidents and problems overall. If we're ever going to lower the drinking age we definitely need to take a page out of the French and English book; don't abuse alcohol! Also, we should use this imaging satellite on other crops to ensure larger harvests. Farming 2.0, that's the future right there.
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If the English produce drinkable wine in my lifetime, it will mean our planet is dying of global warming. Satellites and genetic engineering might help but it's still not the right place to grow wine grapes. I'll believe it when I see it. I spent 2 weeks in Great Britain and I think I saw an English wine on a wine list one time.
I was raised European when it came to alcohol, and I think the drinking age here is silly and futile for college age students, but I'm quite sure the British and French abuse alcohol in addition to appreciating it to the point of scientific analysis. (Many Californians are equally obsessive.) Because of better public transit and population density, they have fewer alcohol related fatalities, that is true, but quite a bit of anti-social and violent behavior, and not just at football matches: http://www.bbc.co.uk/truthaboutcrime/stories/violent_crime.shtml
Interestingly, this is an area of public policy where the UK and France are moving towards the US, including this proposal in France to raise the drinking age up to 18: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123716667064336421.html
Thus, I think it is a little more of a mixed picture than Seth describes. He is correct, however, to observe that wine geekdom can be intense. That, along with the limited amount of prime locations to grow wine grapes, makes wine geekdom too expensive for young adults to really contemplate without parental supervision. If only that were true for all alcoholic beverages.
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