News from SITEVI and VitiNord 2025

Just before the holiday season, the Vitis-import team flew to Europe for a busy technical tour combining supplier visits and participation in two major events in the viticulture industry: SITEVI in Montpellier and VitiNord in Lithuania.
Once on site, travel by road quickly became part of the daily routine, in step with meetings, site visits, and technical discussions.

The objective was to strengthen our relationships with suppliers, stay closely attuned to technical developments, and share internationally an expertise developed in Canada, within a cold climate viticulture and extreme climate viticulture.

Here is a look back at what we saw, heard, and learned and what it means in practical terms for professionals in the Canadian winegrowing industry.

Ahead of SITEVI: at the heart of grapevine preparation for Canada

Before the opening of SITEVI, our team spent a full week visiting several of our suppliers in France.

Among these visits, our time at Pépinières Mercier held particular importance. It was the first time we were present during the vine lifting stage.

Lifting corresponds to the phase when grafted vines, after growing in the field, are removed from the soil to be inspected, cleaned, sorted, and waxed. This step is critical to ensuring the quality, traceability, and compliance of the plant material destined for Canada.

(For those interested in seeing behind the scenes, a video of this visit was shared on our Instagram and Facebook pages.)

During that same week, we also visited Groupe Triangle, specialists in agricultural building construction and photovoltaic panels, as well as Calvet Pulvérisation, to better understand the manufacturing process behind their sprayers.

SITEVI Montpellier: a strategic meeting point for the wine and vine industry

Held from November 25 to 27 in Montpellier, SITEVI remains the world’s largest international trade show dedicated to viticulture and winemaking. With more than 55,000 visitors and 1,000 exhibitors from around the globe, the event brings together equipment, scientific conferences, technical workshops, and leading-edge innovations.

For Vitis-import, being present at SITEVI is essential. It is both a key opportunity to meet with our European suppliers and a unique vantage point to observe the major trends shaping the future of viticulture.

This year, we were present alongside our partner SLPA – Société de Profilage d’Acier Landaise, presenting the INT3NSE trellising system to an international audience.

INT3NSE internationally: interest and climate adaptation

Interest in INT3NSE at SITEVI 2025 was particularly strong, even greater than during our participation at Vinitech Bordeaux last year, especially among visitors from northern and emerging winegrowing regions. The topics discussed: winter protection, frost management, mechanization, and yield security, closely mirror challenges that Canadian vineyards have been addressing for many years.

Unsurprisingly, climate change adaptation dominated discussions. Water stress, unstable winters, and spring frost events are now among the sector’s primary concerns.

In this context, we introduced an important evolution of the INT3NSE system: its compatibility with spring frost protection. This solution relies on the temporary installation of a microperforated polyethylene cover in spring, using the same winding and unwinding equipment as for winter geotextile covers. The principle remains the same; only the material changes.

This approach creates a micro-greenhouse effect while allowing proper vine respiration and operational flexibility depending on weather conditions. INT3NSE is thus positioned as a two-in-one solution, providing both winter protection and spring frost risk management.

VitiNord in Lithuania: Nordic viticulture under review

Following SITEVI, the team traveled to Vilnius to attend VitiNord, a technical conference dedicated to northern and emerging viticulture. Discussions focused on plant material selection, frost management, disease resistance, and the economic viability of vineyards in cold climates.

A technical field tour held on Saturday, December 6 allowed Vitis-import to present a demonstration row of the INT3NSE system and engage in practical discussions around its operation, seasonal transitions, and results observed in Canada. Thermal performance, with temperature differences reaching up to 15 °C between the inside and outside of the protective system, as well as the survival of primary buds under severe cold conditions, drew particular attention, reinforcing the value of knowledge-sharing between regions facing similar climatic realities.

What this means for Canadian vineyards

This European trip first confirmed realities already well established in Canada: cold climate viticulture is evolving rapidly, climate challenges require proactive and adapted solutions, and mechanization and investment protection have become essential.

Beyond these technical aspects, our exchanges also highlighted a strong need for learning and clear reference points. In several emerging wine regions, we observed genuine enthusiasm and a strong desire to move forward, alongside hesitation when it comes to choosing the right path. Approaches are numerous, sometimes contradictory, and poor establishment decisions can quickly become costly.

This is precisely where we see one of the core challenges of our role. At Vitis-import, we believe it is essential to be clear, rigorous, and decisive about what truly works, about best practices to prioritize, and about the directions required to build durable vineyards capable of producing quality wines, even in emerging regions.