Good Practice - Project
QANOPÉE: conservation and pre-multiplication of scions and rootstocks
QANOPÉE is a unique inter-regional initiative that unites three major wine-growing areas to help secure better futures for vine plant production in France.
General information
RDP Priority
- P1. Knowledge transfer and innovation
RDP Focus Area
- 1A: Innovation & cooperation
RDP Measure
- M16: Cooperation
Beneficiary type
- Non-governmental organisation
Summary
QANOPÉE is a CAP cooperation project established to create a shared production unit dedicated to the conservation and pre-multiplication of French grapevine scions and rootstocks. This project constructed a large insect-proof greenhouse for cultivating base plant material, alongside dedicated facilities for producing and storing young plants.
Pre-multiplication represents a critical upstream stage in the vine plant value chain. It involves managing base material (scions and rootstocks) that is used to establish certified multiplication vineyards. These vineyards then produce the grafted plants supplied to winegrowers for new plantings and vineyard renewal.
Previously conducted in open-field conditions, pre-multiplication activities had become increasingly vulnerable to sanitary risks and climate-related pressures. These challenges threatened both the quantity and quality of plant material available to professionals. QANOPEE was developed with CAP support to provide a more secure, controlled environment for this strategic activity, reinforcing the foundations of sustainable vine production in France.
Results
- By 2026, project results had delivered a fully operational 4 500 m² bioclimatic, insect-proof greenhouse.
- Commitments from the project partners brought together three founding interprofessional organisations, four wine regions, and ten funding partners, representing a total investment of EUR 10 million (around 60% of this was included for CAP support).
- Greenhouse capacity for 9 500 plant pots enables propagation of 22 grape varieties and 11 rootstocks.
- The first harvest of rootstock wood and scions in early 2026 marked the completion of the initial production cycle.
- Solar panels and participation in a collective self-consumption scheme supported energy autonomy.
- High-performance climate control delivered energy savings of at least 50% compared with conventional closed greenhouses.
Promoter
QANOPÉE
Funding
Total budget: 6 703 827 (EUR)
EAFRD: 4 826 755 (EUR)
National/Regional: 1 206 690 (EUR)
Private/own: 670 382 (EUR)
Resources
Links
Context
France produces around 220 million vine plants annually, supplying winegrowers across diverse terroirs. At the origin of this value chain lies pre-multiplication, the upstream stage that ensures the availability of grafts and rootstocks used to produce certified planting material. Rootstocks (selected for their resistance to soil pests and adaptability to drought or limestone soils) play a decisive role in vineyard performance and long-term sustainability.
However, climate change is reshaping plant health and agronomic conditions. Rising temperatures and shifting ecosystems are accelerating the spread or emergence of vine diseases (e.g. fanleaf virus, leafroll and flavescence dorée), placing additional pressure on plant material production systems.
In this context, EU support through the CAP provides crucial assistance. By encouraging collective investment, innovation, and interregional cooperation, CAP funding enables French agrifood stakeholders to anticipate climate risks, strengthen plant health safeguards, and seize new opportunities for adaptation within a changing environment.
QANOPÉE is a French association that brings together major wine-sector organisations to coordinate and modernise vine plant pre-multiplication in response to climate and plant health challenges. It brings together leading interprofessional organisations from France’s major wine regions, including Comité Champagne, Bureau Interprofessionnel des Vins de Bourgogne, Comité Interprofessionnel des Vins d'Alsace, SICAREX Beaujolais, and Inter Beaujolais. Their cooperation reflects the strategic importance of vine plant production for the resilience and competitiveness of French viticulture.
Objectives
Objectives for this CAP project were to ensure reliable pre-multiplication of grafts and rootstocks, aligned with the needs of nurseries supplying the vineyards of Beaujolais, Burgundy, Champagne and Jura. By operating under new confined-environment specifications, the project would strengthen plant health safety and long-term availability of high-quality basic plant material.
It was important for project partners to have the capacity to respond to evolving sector demands - including traditional grape varieties, disease-resistant varieties, and new rootstocks. Other goals promoted biodiversity conservation in regional conservatories by fostering participation in research and development trials while facilitating the transfer of technical knowledge to professionals.
Strong territorial cooperation aims were central to the project's ambitions to adapt greenhouse technologies (widely used in vegetable production) to vine wood production, an area where technical references remained limited.
Activities
By 2026, the CAP funding had helped QANOPÉE establish a dedicated, interregional system for confined vine pre-multiplication in northeastern France. An extensive preparatory phase had been conducted to determine the most suitable construction site. Around forty criteria were assessed, including land suitability, access to infrastructure and utilities, availability of skilled labour, governance capacity of local stakeholders, and eligibility for public funding. Following this multi-criteria analysis, the municipality of Blancs-Coteaux (Marne) was selected.
A new production unit was then constructed, centred on a 4 500 m² bioclimatic, insect-proof greenhouse designed to ensure confined and controlled cultivation conditions. This greenhouse was equipped with filtered ventilation and protective netting to prevent the entry of insects and vine pests.
Construction separated areas dedicated to different categories of plant material. A 900 m² technical and administrative building was also completed, together with the necessary roads, sanitation systems, parking facilities and network connections.
The first cuttings arrived in early 2025, and by 2026 the site had entered its initial operational phase, with the first plants planned to become commercially available shortly thereafter.
Main actions implemented:
- Conducted a comprehensive multi-criteria site selection process and secured the Blancs-Coteaux location.
- Created a new legal entity bringing together three wine-growing regions to jointly oversee the initiative.
- Designed and constructed a 4 500 m² bioclimatic, insect-proof greenhouse with regulated internal climate and confined production conditions.
- Built a 900 m² technical and administrative building and installed all required infrastructure (roads, utilities, sanitation, parking).
- Structured the greenhouse into separate zones for basic material production, biodiversity conservation and protected plant material.
- Co-developed, with national partners, the implementation framework for the new confined pre-multiplication specifications defined by the French Vine and Wine Institute (IFV).
- Adapted greenhouse technologies from vegetable production to grapevine wood production, addressing limited existing technical references.
- Studied and refined the technical and economic conditions necessary to ensure the long-term sustainability of confined pre-multiplication.
Together, these EU-funded actions laid the operational and organisational foundations for a new model of secure vine plant pre-multiplication in France.
Main results
- By 2026, project results had delivered a fully operational 4 500 m² bioclimatic, insect-proof greenhouse dedicated to the production of ‘Base’ category vine plants (grafts and rootstocks), ensuring maximum plant health protection and strengthening long-term renewal of resilient French vineyards.
- Commitments from the project partners brought together three founding interprofessional organisations, four wine regions, and ten funding partners, representing a total investment of EUR 10 million (around 60% of this was included for CAP support).
- With a capacity for 9 500 plant pots, the greenhouse enabled the propagation of 22 grape varieties and 11 rootstocks. There is now also scope for future expansion to include resistant varieties from regional programmes.
- An initial batch of the project’s first plants was received in spring 2025 and successfully established under controlled, pressurised and insect-proof conditions. In February 2026, the first harvest of rootstock wood and scions marked the completion of the initial production cycle. This milestone validated the adaptation of open-field methodologies to a confined greenhouse environment, including rigorous cutting protocols, optimised traceability and workflow organisation tailored to controlled production.
- Environmental performance was well integrated. For example, solar panels and participation in a collective self-consumption scheme supported energy autonomy; rainwater harvesting and recycling systems reduced water use; drainage water was purified and reused; and high-performance climate control delivered energy savings of at least 50% compared with conventional closed greenhouses.
- Beyond infrastructure, project outcomes have fostered interactive knowledge-sharing among regional actors, enhancing agility, technical learning and collective problem-solving capacity within the sector.
Key lessons
- Science-led food systems are essential for resilience. Grounding production in research, controlled-environment technologies and robust protocols strengthen plant health security and enable faster adaptation to climate and disease pressures.
- Strategic upstream investment benefits the entire value chain. Securing high-quality basic plant material protects vineyard renewal, productivity and long-term competitiveness, with positive spillovers for growers, nurseries, and the wider rural economy.
- Cooperation unlocks added value and efficiency gains. Pooling resources across regions and professional bodies creates synergies in infrastructure, knowledge-sharing, and risk management that would be difficult to achieve individually.
- EU funding acts as a catalyst for collaboration. CAP support reduces financial risk and incentivises joint governance models, enabling organisations that might not otherwise cooperate to develop shared solutions with lasting structural impact.
QANOPÉE is a large-scale project that is essential for our vineyards because it allows us to secure our plant material and thus preserve the future of our winemaking business and that of our children.