A little over two years after the first grapevines were planted, in June 2024, the first bunches of grapes grown on our Beauvais campus were harvested.
In total, nearly 545 kg of Pinot Noir, Chenin Blanc, Muscadet, and Chardonnay were rinsed, pressed, pasteurized, and then bottled at the FoodLab. A total of 250 liters of grape juice will soon be available for purchase in the farm’s display cases.
A sponsorship initiative for this project
Grapes aren’t just turned into juice! The planting of 5,000 grapevines also led to a major fundraising campaign. Among the main donors, alumni, current students, and their parents were invited to sponsor the vines.
The “Vine Plants” initiative has raised €30,900 since its launch in June 2024. This substantial amount has been redistributed in the form of scholarships to Lasallian students.
This sponsorship campaign complements the existing programs designed to help students finance their education at UniLaSalle.
Students Behind This Initiative
As part of the “Pieds de Vigne” project, a team of students from the AgroTeam association. Since 2020, AgroTeam has been co-managing the school’s two mixed-farming demonstration farms in partnership with the farm’s employees. In this way, it helps shape the farm’s evolution, proposes new projects, and contributes to their development and implementation.
Through this project, the Agroteam team sought to revive Picardy’s ancient winemaking tradition, which existed from the Middle Ages until the mid-19th century. Beyond its heritage value, the planting of this hectare of vineyards now benefits all students in UniLaSalle’s various agronomy programs.
Would you like to help fund scholarships, too? There are still grapevines available to sponsor!
Simply go to our online donation form and select the “Opération pieds de vigne” project.
