Author: Eric J. Wallace / Source: Atlas Obscura
Planted in the sandy soil between the Thau lagoon and the Mediterranean-fronting beaches of Marseillan, France, is a 27-hectare vineyard (about 67 acres) containing the most comprehensive array of living grapevines on the planet.
Known as the Center of Biological Resources of the Vine of Vassal-Montpellier (CRB-Vigne), it is home to about 8,200 different varieties from 52 countries. Some of the plants are more than 150 years old. Many were gleaned from the world’s most ancient vineyards.For viticulturists and winemakers, the CRB-Vigne is nothing short of a mecca. Many speak of visiting with a reverence typically reserved for religious sites.
“You go there and you are just overwhelmed by the scope of what is growing,” says Gabrielle Rausse, who is currently the head winemaker at Jefferson Vineyards. Containing five specimens per variety, the collection features an almost unfathomable diversity. What’s more, the vines are cataloged according to historical use, native region, physical characteristics, and genetic profile (including parentage, progeny, and relatives). Samples of rare medieval varieties are planted alongside modern descendants such as merlot or cabernet sauvignon. “It is like a living history book,” Rausse adds. “You walk through the rows and here is an almost total history of grapes and winemaking, right before your eyes.”
Better still, with a staff of top-notch researchers for tour guides, the experience is interactive. Winemakers fly thousands of miles to discuss varieties they are cultivating and inquire about potential additions. Growers interested in founding a vineyard often ask about climate and soil conditions, and varieties that may produce the best or most interesting wines where they live. Sometimes, scientists provide growers with samples and work with them to research how the plants respond in new areas.
Rausse consulted with the CRB-Vigne while working to bring Thomas Jefferson’s dream of a Virginia vineyard to life in the early 1980s. (At the time, trying to grow premium wine in Virginia was considered crazy.) Following Jefferson’s gardening notes, Rausse inquired about historical varieties from North Africa that Jefferson had speculated would do well at his home in Monticello.
“If a region produces wine, then winemakers from that area have been in contact with us to talk about what they have, or what they should be growing,” says Jean-Michel Boursiquot, scientific director of the CRB-Vigne, which is now managed by Montpellier SupAgro. “This is because, here, we have compiled the most comprehensive body of [viticultural] knowledge in the world. It is our job to share this resource with other professionals.”
According to Boursiquot, if a person wants to know something about grape varieties, the answer can likely be found at Vassal-Montpellier. “And if we cannot answer the question, then it is probably something new,” he adds with a laugh. “Then we will begin to investigate and see what we can do. In the process, maybe we make a new discovery!”
The collection at Vassal-Montpellier has its origins in the Great French Wine Blight of the 1850s, ‘60s, and ‘70s. When wild vines from the New World were introduced to Europe in the early 19th century, they brought along new pests and diseases. Though North American varieties were naturally immune, European vines were not. The result was a massive die-off that ultimately led to a 50 percent reduction in French winemaking.
In the early 1870s, the primary culprit was discovered to be an aphid known as Daktulosphaira vitifoliae (now commonly referred to as grape phylloxera). Realizing that the bugs—and also virus-carrying nematodes—would be unable to reproduce in sandy conditions, scientists at the School of Agriculture of Montpellier scrambled to collect samples of as many French grape varieties as possible. Traveling the country, they took cuttings from vineyards and transplanted them to the school’s sandy grounds for safekeeping.
“The blight was like a wine doomsday,” says Rausse. There was true fear that many varieties had already gone, or might soon go, extinct. “This was the scientists’ plan to save French vines and…
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