Want to preserve your plant material?
On your estate, you have very old vines of a variety and are certain it is not clonal selection. You suspect this plant material offers superior potential compared to all clonal and massal selections available on the market and/or you want to preserve these exceptional genetics. Private massal selection is made for you.
Before undertaking this type of selection, it is essential to understand that a rigorous private massal selection is a long process with no guarantee of success. Just because an old plant seems to meet your expectations does not mean its descendants will. Moreover, old plant material is often virus-infected, even if it appears healthy. Whatever your goal, we systematically perform a strict sanitary selection to propagate only healthy plant material. We strongly advise against multiplying virus-infected material, which is rightly prohibited by regulations. If, at the end of a private massal selection process, the chosen strain turns out to be virus-infected, we can offer to sanitize it.
benefits for VITICULTURE
The interest of private massal selection ranges from the simple conservation of your estate’s genetic heritage to the pursuit of exceptional plant material that allows you to produce wines aligned with your standards.
Conservatory. It is always unfortunate to weaken the genetic diversity of your estate. Even if old vines do not perfectly match today’s expectations, they may hold value for the future. We strongly support the preservation of genetic diversity, and this alone is reason enough to undertake a private massal selection if you have the means. The propagation of virus-infected plant material is prohibited, and the same applies when building a genetic conservatory. Sanitary testing is therefore mandatory, and only healthy strains may be propagated.
Obtain exceptional and exclusive plant material. Many winemakers dream of having an exceptional, exclusive plant in their vineyard that would allow them to produce unique, high-quality wines. In theory, this is possible if you have plant material on your estate superior to all clonal and massal selections on the market and are willing to undertake a private massal selection. Be aware that the probability of having plant material superior to everything else on the market is relatively low for varieties that have undergone many years of selection. If your selection concerns a variety for which little or no selection work has been done, the likelihood of obtaining plant material superior to existing selections is real. In any case, you are certain to obtain exclusive genetics capable of producing wines with a unique profile.
PROCESS and skills involved
A private massal selection requires many highly technical skills and is a long and demanding process. Twelve years of study and evaluation are needed to hope to achieve a high-quality private massal selection. For each of the steps below, our teams from the varietal selection and creation department collect and analyze sanitary, agronomic, and oenological data.
Objective: first, it is essential to clearly define the goals. Is it about establishing a conservatory without specific characterization of the strains? Or are you looking for a specific plant material based on precise agronomic and oenological criteria? In the latter case, the skills required, duration, and probability of success are different.
Prospection: based on the defined objective, the vineyard is surveyed to identify all strains that appear to have the desired profile. This process must be conducted over several years to account for vintage effects.
Sanitary analysis: systematically, our analysis department performs PCR sanitary tests on all candidate strains. Only virus-free strains continue in the selection program. If you wish for one or more virus-infected candidate strains to be included in the selection process, we can offer to sanitize this plant material.
Agronomic evaluation: healthy candidate strains are multiplied and planted in an evaluation plot on your estate. To limit sanitary risks, this collection must be planted on a vineyard-free plot for at least 8 years. For evaluation purposes, we will also plant a clonal reference selection of the variety in the same plot to calibrate the collected data. Our engineers perform a comparative agronomic evaluation over several years to identify and characterize the strains that meet the objectives.
Oenological evaluation: ideally, following the agronomic evaluation, the selected genetic pool undergoes oenological evaluation for a minimum of 2 consecutive years to account for vintage effects.
Result: if one or more strains meet the objective, they are multiplied for replanting at a larger scale on your estate, in the most suitable terroirs. The propagation of standard plant material in a private nursery is subject to strict regulatory requirements. Our teams will guide you through every step, beginning with mandatory sanitary tests before multiplication to prevent any risk. This process is exclusive, and the results are reserved for you.
Conducting a private massal selection
The experience gained and the skills gathered within our laboratory position us as experts in private massal selection. Each project is unique. If you are interested in this type of selection, we are available for an initial discussion to help you better understand the benefits and estimated costs of this exciting project.
