Who are we?
Novatech Laboratory is a historic subsidiary of the Mercier Group. All our expertise is fully dedicated to the vine, aiming to make viticulture more sustainable through the improvement of plant material.
In its early days, the laboratory played a major role in the growth of Mercier Vine Nurseries by bringing its skills in sanitary diagnostics and selection. It is partly thanks to Novatech that, from the 1990s onward, Mercier Nursery plants became a global benchmark for quality and plant health.
Soon, the laboratory established a research and development department unique in the sector, entirely devoted to the vine. The results of this work led to healthier, more resilient plants that serve the interests of winemakers worldwide.
Today, Novatech’s expertise has expanded to varietal creation. Plants are now more than ever a determining factor in viticulture and must address major environmental and economic challenges.
The stakes in varietal creation are immense, and Novatech aims to become a major player in the development of new varieties.
it all starts with
healthy plant material
In the wine sector, sanitary issues are numerous and more relevant than ever. Established in 1986, Novatech Laboratory had the sole mission of enabling Mercier Nurseries to improve the sanitary quality of their production through sanitary testing of plant material and all plants produced. Over the years, the laboratory’s expertise expanded, making it the world specialist in vine sanitary diagnostics. Today, this know-how is available to all vineyard nurseries and winemakers who understand that plant health quality is not optional.
Innovating to provide
concrete solutions
In the 2000s, facing the scourge of wood diseases affecting the entire sector, Novatech launched its first research and development programs with the aim of providing concrete solutions. From the outset, the chosen strategy was to use natural solutions such as biotechnologies and microorganisms. These efforts resulted in several scientific publications and marked a milestone in the sector with the creation of a new generation of healthier, more resilient vine plants. These innovations remain today the only effective and sustainable way to combat wood diseases.
In response to other major challenges in the sector, several ongoing programs, all with the same goal, aim to provide nurseries and winemakers with durable plant material perfectly suited to their needs.
giving birth
to the plants of tomorrow
Plants are a determining factor in the wine sector. They have largely driven the qualitative improvements of recent years and are seen as the key to addressing major challenges such as climate adaptation or reducing inputs and interventions.
To help winemakers achieve their goals, our teams carry out varietal selection work, meaning they identify and characterize plant material according to precise specifications. For a given variety, the goal is to find the appropriate strain(s) (clonal or massal selection).
Novatech’s expertise has expanded to varietal creation, with programs based on natural crossings and genetic engineering techniques. These programs have already produced a new high-quality, resilient variety recognized as one of the best in its category: Nathy-Sauvignac. Compared to conventional varieties, the Nathy program varieties represent a true revolution, enabling winemakers to produce quality wines with fewer inputs.
Organization and expertise
Our team is made up of laboratory technicians, engineers, project researchers, PhD students, and research coordinators who work across 3 departments:
- the sanitary analysis and diagnostics department
- the varietal selection and creation department
- the research and development department
We also welcome interns and apprentices from various agricultural, viticultural, and enology schools around the world.
To successfully carry out our missions, we rely on the wide-ranging expertise of our team members.
Among our areas of expertise, we master microbiology, cell biology, molecular biology, biochemistry, agronomy, enology, biotechnologies, bioinformatics, as well as research project financing and management, project coordination, expert advice, and consulting…
These skills allow us to offer services such as identification of vine pathogens (viruses, bacteria, phytoplasmas, fungi, insects), vine varietal identification, marker analysis, sequencing of vine genome fragments, conservation of bacterial and viral strains, and experiments in the laboratory, in vitro, in greenhouses, or in the field to evaluate fertilizing or biocidal solutions on vine plants.
For all these missions, we are equipped with state-of-the-art tools such as spectrophotometers for ELISA analyses, thermocyclers for PCR and qPCR, DNA sequencers, microscopes, binocular magnifiers, -20 °C and -80 °C freezers, growth chambers and phytotrons where we can control light, temperature, and humidity, and a micro-winemaking cellar with around thirty 100-liter tanks.
Our partners
Our R&D programs are particularly ambitious and need to be conducted in collaboration with other organizations, which we select based on their expertise and the quality of their work. Among our regular partners is the University of Poitiers, for which we fund several PhD theses, including one abroad. Also:
- IFV
- INRAE
- The Institute of Plant Molecular Biology (IBMP) in Strasbourg
- The SEVE group of CNRS and EBI in Poitiers
- The Edmund Mach Foundation (FEM) in Italy
- The research center of Concha Y Toro Group in Chile
- INIA La Platina in Chile
We are members of the PLANTALLIANCE and GRAPEDIA consortia, of VEGEPOLYS VALLEY, and of the VIGNE et VIN Chair in Montpellier.
