THE “LIVING LIBRARY OF GRAPE VINES” THAT HAS COLLECTED 7.000 DIFFERENT SPECIES OF VINES IN DOMAINE DE VASSAL, WILL BE MOVING TO NARBONNE IN A FEW YEARS. THE REASONS ARE ECONOMICAL AND SECURITY, BUT THERE IS ALARM FOR THE OLDER SPECIES

In 1876 phylloxera threatened European vineyards, so the Montpellier School of Agriculture decided to save the thousands of existing grapevine varieties, creating a unique ampelographic collection. Then, between 1949 and 1950, for reasons of space and state of health of the land, Professor Jean Branas moved it to Domaine de Vassal.

Today, it is an institution. The French consider it the wine equivalent of the Louvre, but now 7.000 plants will have to move again, from the beach in Marseillan, on Lake Thau, on the outskirts of Montpellier, to the National Institute of Agronomic Research (INRA), in Gruissan, near Narbonne. There is nothing official yet, but a mixture of discontent and alarm among fans of the "living library of the vine", as the biggest fear is that the older plants will not survive ex-planting and re-implanting, and they have begun an online petition that has reached 4.000 signatures in just a few days.
It is certainly not an easy choice, the president of INRA Montpellier, Laurent Bruckler told “Decanter”.
"It will not be an easy job, it will take between 5 and 7 years to complete the move, but we are doing it for a very good reason. Changing location means primarily ensuring a financial future for the collection. The new location is 250 hectares; enough to ensure space for the 50 new plants that each year are added to the collection. It is in a healthier area, away from any threat of rising sea levels, as opposed to where we are now - a flood of salt water, of course, would be lethal for our vines, which are our first priority”.