In the words of the winemakers

The Côte-Rôtie Syrah Conservatory

I remember a blind tasting held by Gilbert Clusel where we tasted two wines: the first was demonstrative but with a brief finish, while the second was lighter and with greater depth. I preferred the second wine as it seemed to possess a soul that the first one lacked.

Shortly thereafter, Gilbert announced the difference between the two wines: the first was made from cloned stock, the second from stock with a different genetic heritage.

Of course, one cannot extrapolate a universal rule from a single instance. But this experience cemented my opinion that diversity was a good thing.
And I am not the only one to think so.

It was in this light that the Côte-Rôtie winemakers chose to make a Syrah conservatory. In an increasingly uniform world, it seemed important to us to protect our local grape: Syrah, or Serine to be more precise, the ancient variety that calls the hillsides of the northern Rhone Valley home.

The conservatory includes stock that has been found on old parcels in the northern Rhone Valley. In this space, each vine stock has a different genetic heritage, as diverse as possible. The vine stock are observed and used to create new vine stock. Thus, the entire Côte-Rôtie vineyard (and Côte-Rôtie alone) can, if and when they choose to do so, replant this vine stock on one of their parcels, promoting diversity.
Benjamin Duclaux