Loire Valley and Beaujolais Living Lab

117 159 km²

Total area

~3.9M

Population

Vineyards

Permanent Crops

David Lafond david.lafond@vignevin.com
Living Lab Leader

The Territory

The Loire Valley & Beaujolais Living Lab spans two of France’s most celebrated wine regions. It brings together the compact, hillside vineyards of Beaujolais in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region and the sweeping, river-shaped landscape of the Loire Valley, one of the longest wine regions in the world.

Beaujolais is characterised by steep hillside vineyards producing predominantly red wines from the Gamay grape, while the Loire Valley stretches over 800 kilometres, making it one of the most extensive and diverse wine regions in the world.

Despite their differences in scale and geography, both regions share common soil health challenges, shaped by the pressures of conventional viticultural management, climate change, and the physical demands of hillside and alluvial terrains. The Living Lab brings together applied researchers, agricultural chambers, and winegrowers from both areas to co-create and share solutions that improve soil health while supporting the long-term vitality of French viticulture.

The Crops

Vineyards are the defining feature of both regions. Despite differences in grape varieties, soils, and production systems, growers face common challenges that directly impact soil health and long-term sustainability.

Vineyards

Beaujolais vineyards lie on steep, sandy slopes north of Lyon, making them highly vulnerable to soil erosion, especially where herbicide use leaves soils exposed. While cover crops are increasing, concerns over water competition limit wider adoption, particularly under growing summer drought conditions.
In the Loire Valley, vineyards stretch along 800 km of river landscape and include a wide diversity of grape varieties. Silty soils are prone to compaction from frequent machinery use, reducing water infiltration and root growth. Across both regions, intensive practices and climate pressure are accelerating soil degradation and water stress.

Main Challenges

The vineyards of the Loire Valley and Beaujolais face a set of interconnected soil health challenges driven by management practices, terrain, and a changing climate. These are the core challenges the Living Lab is working to address.

Soil Erosion

Steep slopes make Beaujolais vineyards particularly vulnerable to soil erosion, especially where conventional practices leave soils bare during and after heavy rainfall. Sandy soils with low cohesion are easily displaced by surface runoff, leading to the progressive loss of fertile topsoil, degradation of soil structure, and increased sedimentation in nearby water bodies. Tillage is not always an option on the steepest slopes – further limiting management choices for growers trying to reduce herbicide use. Climate change, with more intense and unpredictable rainfall events, is expected to worsen erosion risk across both regions.

Soil Compaction

Soil compaction is a widespread challenge across Loire Valley vineyards in particular, where frequent tractor passes for spraying and harvesting compact the predominantly silty soils. Compacted soils have reduced pore spaces, impeding root growth, limiting water infiltration, and reducing the uptake of nutrients by vines. Soil texture plays a major role – silty soils are especially susceptible to compaction and surface sealing. Reducing machinery-driven compaction while maintaining operational efficiency is one of the key practical challenges for growers in this region.

Water Stress

Water stress has become a growing and urgent concern for winegrowers in both Beaujolais and the Loire Valley, particularly over recent growing seasons. Insufficient water availability reduces grape yields and quality, and can increase vine mortality from grapevine trunk disease. The decline in soil organic matter – driven by tillage and chemical weed management – further reduces the soil’s capacity to retain water, compounding the effects of drought. Climate change is expected to bring less predictable rainfall and more prolonged dry periods, making water conservation and soil organic matter restoration increasingly critical priorities.

Reduced Soil Organic Matter

Maintaining soil organic matter is essential for soil structure, water-holding capacity, and nutrient availability in vineyards. However, conventional weed management practices – including frequent tillage and herbicide application – combined with the use of chemical rather than organic fertilisers have led to a progressive decline in organic matter levels across vineyards in both regions. Lower organic matter reduces soil fertility, water infiltration and retention, and overall vineyard productivity – and creates a feedback loop that makes soils more vulnerable to erosion and compaction over time.

A Partnership Between Research, Advisory Services and Winegrowers

The Loire Valley & Beaujolais Living Lab is coordinated by IFV (Institut Français de la Vigne et du Vin), France’s leading applied research institute for viticulture and oenology, which brings deep technical expertise and a long track record of working directly with winegrowers across the country.
In Beaujolais, IFV works in collaboration with CA69 (Chambre d’Agriculture du Rhône) and a network of 23 winegrowers actively engaged in learning and exchanging knowledge about soil health. In the Loire Valley, IFV collaborates with CRAPL (Chambre Régionale d’Agriculture des Pays de la Loire) and a parallel group of growers. Together, these partnerships ensure that the experimental work carried out on the 10 sites is grounded in real farm contexts and that results are actively shared and translated into practice across both regions.

Open Call Beneficiaries

The Loire Valley & Beaujolais Living Lab has welcomed new partners through the LivingSoiLL 2025 Open Call, expanding its network with additional research and innovation capacity across both wine regions. The following organisations joined the Living Lab as beneficiaries, contributing to two approved projects:

Rooting for Wine

Beneficiaries: