The Clone Wars

I participate in a wine bulletin board called Wine Talk on erobertparker.com. It is an amazing forum- some 7200 people from all over the world with a strong interest in wine.

Many top notch growers and winemakers participate and the discussions can get very lively, even heated about many issues.

One issue that got kicked around recently was Pinot Noir clones. Maybe a little esoteric for most folks but I find it fascinating. Basically, there are many variations of the Pinot Noir grape, all called Pinot Noir.

What was so fascinating about all of this, that even the casual wine observer might find interesting, was that on even the most basic ideas there was little to no consensus.

I will offer up one item on which there was broad consensus among growers and then mention a few items on which there was no real consensus.

Flavor and other sensory attributes are affected by what specific clone of Pinot Noir is used to make the wine. Yes- there was broad agreement!

On the following items there was broad disagreement-

The extent to which the clone selection was a factor in the wine- many saying it was very important but some saying much less than other attributes- even so far as to call it a red herring issue.

The extent to which clone selection was a factor over time- some saying the grapes mutate so fast that over a period of some years it doesn't much matter and others saying it is relatively stable and not mutating over 20- 30 years.

Whether the traditonal approach in the US of separate planting blocks of each clone is important. Some saying yes and some saying massale or field planting is a better way (mixing various clones together for growing and then harvesting and fermenting together- essentially throwing in the towel on the idea of blending wine made from different clones to make a better wine).

Is one group right and the other wrong on this? Well, maybe. But maybe not, too. Each of the growers is reflecting their own observations from their specific vineyards.

And there are at least four hugely important variables that can't be separated out. Terroir, weather, clonal sourcing, and chance.

Teroir is always a wild card, as it is in everything else in winemaking. Clone 667 may be one way here and a different way there.

Weather. There are weather variables within a single vineyard. Imagine how variable it can be when comparing different vineyards.

Clonal sourcing. In France the government maintains strict control over the Pinot clones- a grower goes to the source and gets pure clones. Here it is uncontrolled - growers take cuttings from other growers and on and on. And who knows whether the original plantings were even accurate? Lots of growers brought back "suitcase" clones that were field cuttings from various vineyards in France and for legal reasons do not want to say where they came from.

And last, but not least consider the role chance can play in this. Maybe the grape mutates and maybe it doesn't. Chance.

I love that last element. Making wine by the numbers can work up to a point. But to make great wine, chance and risk are part of the blend. And I think most would be able to agree on that!

Cheers,

Dave