Vine selection in France: An assessment after more than 60 years of work

It was at the end of the second world war that professor Branas laid the foundations of french vine selection. He was also behind the creation of domaine de vassal (1949) and antav (1962), which were to become the bridgeheads of the french strategy for the conservation, selection and multiplication of viticultural diversity. Initially based on visually virus-symptom-free massal selections, with the main aim of providing healthy, clearly-identified plant material, the process evolved as knowledge gained towards clonal selection.