The present invention provides methods for providing cartilage-containing tissue for grafting, comprising providing excised cartilage-containing tissue; and treating said excised cartilage-containing and cryogenically preserving the treated cartilage-containing tissue under appropriate cryogenic preservation conditions so as to yield cryogenically preserved cartilage-containing tissue having at least 10% viable chondrocytes throughout the cartilage portion of the cartilage-containing tissue after preservation, as tested in a live/dead ratio assay. Treatment may comprise providing one or a plurality of incisions in said cartilage portion to a predetermined depth therein and/or introducing a cryoprotectant agent at least into said cartilage portion. The invention also provides viable cartilage obtainable by the methods of the invention, methods of grafting such preserved, viable cartilage containing tissue in a recipient, as well as apparatuses, vessels and systems for preparing a cartilage-containing tissue for cryogenic preservation and subsequent grafting in a recipient.