In viticulture, the massal selection is a method of selecting vine plants.Unlike clonal selection, where plants are multiplied from a single mother plant by cutting or grafting, massal selection involves collecting cuttings from several vines in a given vineyard.
The winegrower selects vines in his vineyard that have optimal characteristics in terms of resistance to disease, adaptation to the terroir, or particular organoleptic qualities. Cuttings are taken from these vines and multiplied in large numbers to create new plants that can be used to expand or renew the vineyard.
Massal selection helps to preserve genetic diversity within the vineyard, which can contribute to the resilience of vines to disease, climate change and other environmental stresses. It also helps to maintain the specificity of the terroir by preserving the unique characteristics of grape varieties adapted to a particular place.
