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Montpellier

Capital of the southern French region of Languedoc-Roussillon in the département of Hérault, not far from the Mediterranean coast. In 1289, Pope Nicholas IV founded a university here. (1227-1292) founded a university with the disciplines of medicine, theology, law and philosophy. This developed into an intellectual centre of a high standard. Among others, the famous physician Arnaldus de Villanova (1240-1311) taught here. In 1872, the "École Nationale Supérieur Agronomique" was founded as a branch of the university. The reason for the foundation was the catastrophe in French viticulture caused by the two mildews and phylloxera. Jules Émile Planchon (1823-1888), who was finally able to identify phylloxera as the cause of the mysterious vine death in 1868, also worked here as a professor of botany. Today, the Department of Viticulture is one of the most important institutes in the world.

Montpellier - Bulle von Papst Nikolaus IV. und Universität (medizinische Fakultät)

The first director was Professor Gustave L. E. Foëx (1844-1906). He worked intensively on American vines and experimented on a large scale with rootstocks resistant to phylloxera. He thus established the special position of the branch of ampelography at the university. Foëx also laid the foundation for a collection of French and American vines, which today includes many grape varieties, rootstocks and wild vines. Among them are many extinct and no longer used varieties. The herbarium is a world leader, along with Magarach (Crimea-Ukraine). It was moved to the Domaine de Vassal between 1949 and 1950 by Prof. Jean Branas (1905-1998) because the sandy soil there is free of phylloxera and nematodes. The estate is located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Etang de Thau (lagoon) in Marseillan.

Montpellier - Herbarium der Domaine de Vassal

Pierre Viala (1859-1936), a specialist in vine diseases, studied in Montpellier, became a professor of viticulture here, laid the foundation for the famous rootstock "41 B" through a trip to the USA and, together with Victor Vermorel (1848-1927), published the seven-volume classic "Ampélographie" with 24,000 described grape varieties and many colour plates. Further important personalities at the university were or are include Denis Boubals (phylloxera, mildew, founding of the Domaine du Chapître), Jean-Michel Boursiquot (grape variety identification), Jean Branas (viral diseases, clone selection), Alain Carbonneau (canopy microclimate, training methods), Pierre Galet (grape variety identification), Louis Ravaz (founding of the viticultural institute in Cognac, expansion of the grapevine collection), Thierry Lacombe and Paul Truel (both grape variety identification).

Successful DNA analyses have created a world-renowned centre for grape variety identification in Montpellier, working closely with specialists from the University of California. In the 1990s, this was above all Dr. Carole Meredith for the varieties Chardonnay, Durif, Gouais Blanc, Durif (Petite Sirah) and Syrah. Since 1946, INRAE has financed the further development of viticultural research and provided experts. Partly in collaboration with other institutes, Montpellier experts have created, among others, the new varieties Arriloba, Chasan, Chenanson, Clarin, Ederena, Ganson, Gramon, Monerac, Odola and Perdea. See also under Viticultural Institutions.

Papal Bull: Download from Vpe at Wikipedia - CC BY-SA 2.5, Link
University: Download from Vpe at Wikipedia, CC BY 1.0, Link

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