“Everyone has their own idea of the vineyard of the future” - Beaujolais aims for carbon neutrality

he ideal vineyard has yet to exist in Beaujolais but the regional wine industry’s applied research centre Sicarex hopes to create a virtually carbon neutral block geared to the post-2050 climate.

“We are going to design and plant this vineyard of the future as part of the Vitopia 2051 project, which itself is part of the national Vitilience programme”, explains the centre’s director Sophie Penavayre. “It will be planted at Château de l’Eclair, our estate that is designed for experimentation and demonstration”. Many levers are already being trialled there, including plant material, hail nets and pruning systems. The ‘vineyard of the future’ will combine all these techniques using an approach that aligns with winegrowers’ practices.

What will it look like though? “Everyone has their own ideas”, smiles Penavayre. “For the plant material, we can work with different Gamay accessions and maybe some varieties designed to cope with climate change. We will definitely plant hedges and trees among the vines and we will be thinking about vineyard management techniques and soil preparation for instance. We might even try trellis systems so that the fruit is shaded and work is not as difficult”. A digital/robotics aspect will also be included with a connected weather station and “maybe” some soil maintenance robots.

The first wine “of the future” will not be ready until the Vitopia project comes to an end but Sicarex is also working on the winemaking procedures. “We want to introduce a low energy, water and input process and develop bottle re-use”, stresses Penavayre.