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UNIK*:
EXCEPTIONAL MASSAL SELECTIONS
This ambitious programme was developed by Mercier to reach the highest standards and avoid virtually every risk. Through the Unik process,
Novatech Sélection – the Mercier group’s in-house laboratory – provides extremely high quality massal selections with the ability to produce topflight,
distinctive and complex wines that “engage the emotions, without any health or agricultural risks”.
THREE SHINING EXAMPLES OF MASSAL SELECTION AS PART OF THE UNIK PROGRAMME: CABERNET FRANC, CHENIN AND MERLOT. THESE MAJOR
VARIETIES FOR THE FRENCH AND GLOBAL WINE INDUSTRY ACCOUNT FOR HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF HECTARES UNDER VINE
The selection has always allowed winegrowing to make huge
strides in terms of agronomic and winemaking precision.
Massal selections – as mentioned above in the interview with
Miguel Mercier – are extremely worthwhile and complement
clonal selection. Obviously, they promote genetic diversity and
counterbalance standardisation. However, it is important not
to overlook the fact that not all selections produce better wines
than the benchmark clones and, more importantly, some can
lead to a resurgence in major health issues that were thought to
have been eradicated. Neither is an old vine or one that is different
from a clone necessarily suited to present-day growing
conditions and agronomic and winemaking requirements.
Miguel Mercier describes the contents of the Unik programme.
“The first step is the survey: for each variety that joins the programme,
we draw up specifications which precisely define the
aims of the massal selection. Then our agricultural engineers
tour the oldest vineyards looking for potentially eligible vines.
The survey phase covers an extensive area, guaranteeing
broad-ranging genetic diversity. Several hundreds of vines are
selected during this first stage.
Then come the health analyses – the staff at the Novatech analysis
department conduct systematic PCR health tests on all the
eligible vines. Only those that are virus-free continue through
the selection process.
The following stage is the agronomic assessment – the healthy
eligible vines are propagated and planted on several assessment
blocks which include one or more benchmark clones. The
aim is to conduct a comparative agronomic evaluation to identify
and characterise those that meet the objectives.
The final step is the winemaking assessment – after the agronomic
evaluation, the selected vines are used to make small batches
of wines and professional experts of the particular variety assess
the winemaking potential of the ongoing selection.
Consequently, if, and only if, the initial objectives are attained does
the massal selection join the Unik catalogue so that it can be propagated
for winegrowers. Importantly, several years of research
and assessments are required to create a Unik massal selection”.
The advantages of this process:
• It produces distinctive wines: from a vineyard block, a site.
Massal selections increase the organoleptic complexity of the
resultant wines.
• It increases a winery’s genetic diversity: due to the large number
of vines it comprises, massal selection increases diversity
and helps preserve the shared genetic heritage.
• It avoids all health and agricultural risks: the vines incorporated
into the Unik programme are tested and guaranteed to
be free of the main vine viruses. They have been the subject of
several years of agronomic and winemaking assessments to
confirm their characteristics are superior to the benchmark
clone(s) and to the desired objectives.
The programme pinpoints the challenges of renewing a vineyard
and most importantly its choice of more reliable plant material
that has the ability to provide top-flight organoleptic qualities.
For the moment, nine varieties are available in the range:
Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carménère, Chenin, Cot,
Grenache Noir, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Sauvignon Blanc.
* Unik selections are owned by Mercier Novatech and are propagated exclusively
by licensed nursery operators.
Don’t miss the next part of this feature report in our next Autumn 2023 issue: the key topic of resistant grape varieties
SUMMER 2023 • GILBERT & GAILLARD - THE FRENCH EXPERTS ON WINE
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