Vines from the 19th century

"Even in the 1980s, winemakers in our region began to protect old vineyards," says Olivier Bourdet-Pees. As the general director of Plaimont, he represents 600 winemaker families who cultivate 5,300 hectares of vineyard area in five appellations. The cooperative was founded in 1979 from the merger of the wineries of Plaisance, Aignan, and Saint-Mont, initiated by winemaker André Dubosc. The name Plaimont is composed of the letters of the three place names.

Bourdet-Pees is in his early 50s, slim, wearing an open shirt, jeans, and fashionable glasses. A dark beret covers his closely cropped, gray-streaked hair. "The old plots are our heritage, our culture. Preserving them means preserving the variety of species in our vineyards. That is what we want," he emphasizes, "which is why we established the grape variety reserve in 2002." The vineyard in Sarragachies was ideal for this. "It is one of the oldest in France. Here you can find own-rooted vines that are up to 150 years old and have been spared from the phylloxera disaster. That makes them so valuable," explains Bourdet-Pees.

Why the vines in this plot survived the phylloxera becomes clear when he digs a little in the soil – where, unusually, neither grass nor flowers grow between the vines. The earth is loose and light. "Phylloxera attacks the roots of the vines, causing the plants to die from lack of water and nutrients," explains the general director, "but because this region was an ocean millions of years ago, the soil is now sandy. The phylloxera could not harm these vines because the eggs laid on the roots were washed away by rain."

Diversity as a key competence

Initially, the "Parcelle Pédebernade" was just a grape variety museum. Until scientists decoded the complete genome of the grapevine in 2007. "That was our chance to understand the plant even better and learn more about these varieties," says Olivier Bourdet-Pees. This opened his view to the future: "The conservatory should not only document biodiversity in the vineyard but also help us find answers to climate change." For him, it is about survival in the vineyard – and about the wine style. The diversity of varieties is the key for Bourdet-Pees. "If we lose biodiversity, we lose all options to defend ourselves and adapt," he emphasizes.

Currently, there are 39 grape varieties in the grape variety reserve, all originating from the region at the foot of the Pyrenees – neatly planted in rows but mixed. "Different grape varieties stand next to each other, which are differently susceptible to diseases and whose grapes ripen at different times. This is how winemakers secured the harvest in the past," explains the Plaimont director. Another aspect is the pollination of the vines: "Although most cultivated grape varieties have hermaphroditic flowers and can self-pollinate, vines with only female flowers need wind or insects to carry pollen to them. This also is favored by the mixed planting."

Use of genetics and AI

Bourdet-Pees points to the signs on the vines with the names of the varieties: Tannat, Fer Servadou, Pinenc, Canari, Manseng Noir, Tardif, Négret de Banhars, Miousap, Morenoa, Chacolis, and many others known only to ampelographers. 27 grape varieties in the reserve are known, while twelve have not yet been identified by the researchers from Plaimont. "All these varieties were almost extinct, some only exist in this plot," says Olivier Bourdet-Pees as he walks along the rows. The unknown varieties found here are identified on the signs with designations like "Pédebernade 1", "Pédebernade 5", or "Dubosc 2". Plaimont names them after the owners of the vineyard or the cooperative founder and counts them.

Some of the grape varieties have always been here. Others come from other old vineyards. Winemakers from Plaimont discovered them at some point among the other plants and informed the cooperative's research team. This has existed since 2012. Again, the director stops. "We plant the newly found old varieties in the conservatory and observe their behavior during the growing season. To identify them, we examine similarities with known varieties. For female varieties, we also try to find out who pollinates them," he reports. "80 percent of the characteristics for variety identification come from the vine leaves, but now DNA analyses and artificial intelligence also help – the latter to compare the photos of mature leaves much faster and more accurately than a human can."

Microvinification in the "Atelier des cépages"

To assess the taste of the old varieties, the team also processes the grapes. For this, Plaimont opened its own experimental winery in 2022, the door of which the director now opens. The "Atelier des cépages" (literally translated: grape variety workshop) is a large, modern hall, with stainless steel tanks lined up against the walls. They are smaller than in other wineries and do not sit on the ground but hang from a surrounding, walkable gallery. "This way, we save water during cleaning," comments Olivier Bourdet-Pees. From the sorting table at the entrance of the hall, the harvested grapes run over a conveyor belt into the press, which is located at the height of the gallery. This allows gravity to be used exclusively for all subsequent steps.

In the middle of the hall stand smaller tanks, each on three legs with wheels. They resemble the robot R2D2 from "Star Wars". The smallest holds only 100 liters and demonstrates what microvinification means: to produce wine experimentally in very small quantities.

Two old, indigenous red grape varieties have already undergone this process: Manseng Noir and Tardif. They are now approved for wine production under certain conditions. The oenologists have also produced trial wines from other varieties, either varietal or as a cuvée. "The grape variety is a great tool to express the terroir and adapt to consumer demand," says Olivier Bourdet-Pees. The over a hundred-year-old vine in Sarragachies continues to live and thrive in its terroir just as well as its gnarled colleagues. They are thus a heritage with future potential – and the antithesis to any new breeding.