February 2009 Newsletter
Send in the Clones!
(With apologies to Judy Collins)
Isn't it rich?
Aren't we quite fair,
All sold by the pound,
You so fair..
Where are the clones?
While contemplating an upcoming seminar on
pinot noir clones it dawned on me that outside
of a small group of winemakers and pinot noir
geeks, very few people know what a clone is
(at least as far as grape vines are concerned)
and probably fewer care. Well, I have decided
to do my best to change that, one person at a
time. So here is your little lesson on plant nomenclature.
I will skip the part about kingdom,
phylum, order, etc. and skip right to the bottom
line. First, a few definitions:
Species: A taxonomic group whose members
can interbreed successfully (huh?). That is,
humans can interbreed successfully, despite
racial differences, because we're all members
of the same species of the genus Homo (man).
Although I am sure that there are winemakers
in the Midwest, South, and East who will
disagree with me, the world's finest wines are
made from one genus and species of grape,
Vitis vinifera.
Varietal: A subgroup of a species of plants that
share similar traits.
Scion: The fruiting part of the plant. Often
grafted onto a different rootstock.
Rootstock: Many fruit plants are planted in
areas they are not native to and they have no
natural resistance to indigenous pests. To solve
the problem they are grafted onto another plant
that will provide pest-resistant root structure.
An example is the English Walnut which in the
United States is grafted onto native Black Walnuts.
Vitis vinifera are almost always grafted onto
rootstock resistant to the root louse Phylloxera.
Cultivar: The correct term for what we usually
refer to as varietals. Cultivars are selections
that are chosen for desired characteristics and
then cultivated. Cultivar is simply a contraction
of "cultivated variety".
Sport: A change from the normal type of the
parent stock, usually as a mutation. Many types
of common garden fruit trees are the result of
sports.
Clone: A plant that is genetically identical to
its parent. By taking a single bud from a single
grape vine and propagating it, you have a clone
of the parent bud. It may differ in subtle ways
from the overall characteristics of the mother
vine but not from the single bud that you selected.
If you propagate it through multiple
generations you can end up with millions of
clones of the original bud.
Heritage selection: The name given to some
of the older selections of pinot noir. Not true
clones as they didn't originate from a single
bud, they nonetheless have common, agreed
upon traits.
Suitcase selection: Plant material imported in
violation of laws governing the transfer of plant
material. In the case of pinot noir usually taken
from Grand Cru vineyards in Burgundy, with
or without the permission of the owners.
Selection: Sometimes erroneously referred to
as a clone. Rather than being from a single bud,
it comes from one or more plants, usually with
very similar characteristics.
Phenotype: An individual or group of organisms
exhibiting particular physical or biochemical
characteristics. An example is pinot gris, a
group of clones of pinot noir, that differ from
what we call pinot noir because of color. Pinot
gris is a pigment phenotype of pinot noir.
Selection massale: The practice of propagating
from numerous, different mother vines in a vineyard.
Ok, enough with the definitions. Why do we
care? Because, in the quest to produce the
world's finest pinot noirs, there is a continual
search for answers. And, to understand this
quest it is important to understand some of the
language used and often misused.
Pinot noir, unlike many other wines, has an
aura of mystery, an indefinable something
else that is not easily quantified. And, because
of this mystery, it can be many things while
still remaining true to its core self. Unlike
cabernet sauvignon, which seems to have an
international range of styles that are fairly
recognizable and accepted, pinot noir is maddeningly
inconsistent, reflecting everything that
influences it back at you like a mirror. Where
to grow it, how to grow it and how to make it
are still open questions and the latter two are
subject to change over time. However, what to
plant seems to be the biggest remaining mystery.
Rootstock and scion, both agreed upon for
a time in a given location are subject to reinterpretation
as the vines mature, as we gain new
knowledge, and as tastes change.
I believe (and correct me if I am wrong!) that
modern clonal work with pinot noir began in
the 1950's in Burgundy, France. Faced with
the decline in quality and uniqueness of many
vineyards that had been planted via selection
massale for many years, due to virus and simply
bad selections, Raymond Bernard began
collecting cuttings from mother vines, looking
to find virus free stock as well as vines that
had desirable characteristics from both a grape
growing and winemaking standpoint. About
the same time, Dr. Harold Olmo, of the University
of California, Davis, began collecting
cuttings from heritage vineyards in California
for evaluation. Some of these early evaluations
led to the first numbered clones. If a plant was
found to have desirable characteristics, tissue
was taken and propagated. Since it could be
traced back to a single "mother" it was deemed
a clone. Technically it must come from a single
bud as vines can produce sports (see defini-
tions). In any event, some of these early clones
are of little interest today as the elimination of
the viruses resulted in overly productive vines
with less than ideal character. Others have
stood the test of time. They have been joined
by a host of newly available clonal selections
as well as a large number of heritage and suitcase
selections, giving us a very broad palate
to choose from when planting a pinot noir
vineyard. If you consider that there are reputedly
over 1000 identified clonal selections in
France, along with the aforementioned heritage
selections, and other cultivars that actually appear
to be genetic mutations of pinot noir, the
possibilities are nearly endless.
A lot of decisions can go into selecting plant
material for a vineyard. Once a cultivar (varietal)
is selected, you then need to determine
where to get the material. If you are selecting
from a vineyard, unless it is a certified virus
free vineyard, you run the risk of using plant
material infected with a virus. This can be of
minor concern or it can be catastrophic, depending
upon the degree of infection and the
nature of the virus. Since most viruses tend
to inhibit the vines photosynthetic abilities,
crop levels are often reduced and ripening
delayed. This can actually be a good thing as
the cleaned up versions of some selections
actually produce less interesting wines than
the parent material. However, heavily virused
vines often result in vines of little vigor with
varying degrees of fruit maturation within a
group of vines and sometimes, the inability to
truly ripen the fruit. By selecting from clean
stock from a known source, you can be pretty
sure that you are getting vines that will produce
fruit of a predictable nature. If you are a farmer
your decisions are usually biased toward clean
vines with good growth habits, disease resistance
and larger crop levels. Winemakers are
often looking for small berried, small clustered,
small crop vines with intensity and complexity.
However, the goals do not have to be mutually
exclusive. There are selections that produce
larger than average crops of first class wine and
vice versa.
At this point in time there is little if any agreement
on what constitutes the best selections
of pinot noir. A decade or so ago the so called
Dijon clones (113, 114, 115, 667 and 777) were
all the rage. In general they had smaller clusters,
moderate crop levels, and ripened earlier
than many of the other available selections,
which are all good characteristics in Burgundy,
France, but not necessarily here. They were
often chosen over the Martini and Pommard
clones as well as a number of heritage selections.
Over the last few years, as vineyards
have matured and wines have had a chance to
develop in bottle, much of their popularity has
waned. One of the latest Dijon clones to be
introduced, 828, is getting a lot of attention,
although there seems to be at least two separate
selections currently being touted as 828 and,
in fact, neither may be the true 828 from the
University of Dijon, in France. There are also
various suitcase selections named after famous
Burgundy vineyards (that may or may not
have come from those vineyards and are, at the
very least, selections from different plants that
have different characteristics) floating around.
And, to add further confusion, some of the old
heritage selections (such as Swan) are now
being offered as virus free clones-- but since
they originated from a single bud they are not
the same as the original selections (which may
or may not actually be what they were called
anyway, as much of the material has passed
through so many hands that its true origins are
lost). In any event, there are a lot of choices
possible. In my opinion it is a mistake to plant
a vineyard with a single clone. A single "selection"
can and often does work out because, unlike
clones, there is diversity, but single clones
will often give a much simpler wine. I like
to describe the attributes of the better clonal
selections as single voices in a choir. Beautiful
voices but when you finally hear the whole choir
sing you realize what you are missing. Sometimes,
some of the selections may be a little off
key but they are infinitely more interesting.
To further add to the confusion, if we aren't
confused enough already, is that both clones
and selections seem to adapt to place. Whether
through mutation or simply in reaction to their
site, there is a great deal of variation in the
characteristics of various point noirs. In some
sites, clone seems to trump site with the differences
very easy to see. A good example of
this is Saralee's Vineyard where we work with
a large number of different clones. Each produces
a wine that carries the overall characteristics
of the vineyard but is still unmistakably
different from the others. However, here at our
Estate vineyard, only a mile away, site seems
to trump the clone. While the Swan selection is
still unmistakably different, the differences in the
Dijon clones we have planted here is minimal, at
best. In fact, the fruit character changes more by
where it is planted than it does by clone.
Another decision is whether the vineyard
should be planted in neat little blocks of uniform
clones or in a modern version of the old
selection massale? In true selection massale,
a vigneron would go through a vineyard and
select vines that seemed to have the characteristics
they were looking for. This was an
improvement over the very old method of
vineyard reproduction where once a vine was
growing, in order to get a vine next to it you
simply laid down a cane to allow it to root thus
gaining a new plant. Phylloxerra put an end to
that, as vines need to be grafted to resistant root
stock. In any event, selection massale in and of
itself was not necessarily a good way to plant a
vineyard, as the characteristics that were being
selected for may or may not have been ones
that would generally lead to better wines. Unless
you had a history with a particular vine,
you really had no idea whether or not it would
produce good wine even if it had all of the
desired physical characteristics. In Burgundy,
if you had a grand cru vineyard you would
probably make different decisions than if you
had a non-classified planting down in the flats.
Simple economics dictated what you would do.
While much of our vineyard is a true selection
massale of the Swan selection intermixed with
some material from Romanée Conti along with
a few other odd vines, we do have pure rows
of the Dijon clones. Our other vineyards all
have pure blocks of clones. In some we pick
by clone, others by location as the various areas
ripen. By picking by clone, as in Saralee's
Vineyard, we are able to age the lots separately,
evaluate them and blend just before bottling
to produce a wine that has what I feel are the
best characteristics of the vineyard. Ditto with
the vineyards where we harvest by area rather
than by clone. However, there are a number of
winemakers that believe that randomly mixing
plant material in a vineyard leads to a greater
degree of complexity due to different levels of
maturity imparted by the different clones/selections.
Perhaps. My feeling is that if you are using
one of the selections the complexity is built
in and you have a selection massale by default.
If you are using clones I prefer to have them
separate. Most of our vineyards are too young
and our experience too recent for us to have
come to any enduring conclusions about their
relative merits. I, for one, still like the practice
of keeping them separate. While we won't be
able to generate any absolutes as there are simply
too many variables, we should at least get
a better idea of what we should be seeking for
future vineyards. At least until the next "magic
bullet" clone/selection comes along!
Barrel Tasting Special
While reminiscing the other day with a friend
about "the good old days" I mentioned that
back in 1988, a very cool year, I helped out a
grower friend by making some wine for him. A
winery that had contracted for some of his cab
ernet sauvignon grapes got tired of waiting for
them to ripen. About the middle of November
the winemaker went on vacation and informed
him that they wouldn't be taking his fruit. He
approached me with a proposition and I agreed.
I would make the wine, barrel it down in some
barrels that I found for him and he would then
arrange to sell it in bulk. However, instead of
selling it in one lot to another winery, we ended
up selling it a barrel at a time to small groups
of friends. My friend asked me if I would ever
consider doing it again. My answer was the
same as the one I have given to many of the
buyers of that 1988 cab: No, since we no longer
have any extra capacity. Then it dawned
on me. We occasionally have a lot or two that
is large enough that we could actually do that.
We are going to give it a try this year with our
largest zinfandel lot, the 2007 Mancini Ranch
zinfandel. We ended up with, for this vineyard,
a lot of fruit. While still only about 1.5 tons per
acre it was more than we usually see. If you are
interested, give us a call or email us right away.
We are only going to offer a few barrels. A
barrel is 25 cases, which we will bottle in any
combination of 750's and magnums. Contact
us for details but the offer is only good through
March 15 as we will be bottling all of the '07
zinfandels shortly thereafter. And, as an added
bonus, we will sign the barrel for you, which
will be yours to keep!
New Releases
It's Trenton Time!
(Plus one outlier)
As many of you know, our house once housed
the Post Office and General Store for the community
of Trenton. The only things remaining
from those days are the house, tank house, barn
and all of the Trenton Roads. To keep the history
alive we named our vineyard Trenton Estate.
Over time it was joined by at least three other
vineyards with Trenton in the name. With this
release, we honor our vineyard and two of the
others as well. If you think it is confusing, you
obviously haven't been to Burgundy, France!
2007 Pinot Gris
Trenton Station
Vineyard
Barrel fermented and aged on the lies in neutral
barrels. Bright, pale white gold color. The nose
exhibits bright hints of lemon, honeysuckle and
minerals. In the mouth it is very bright with
great acidity. Although not as unctuous as the
last few years, I actually favor it. It reminds me
very much of the '97 which is drinking beautifully
and has years of life ahead of it. Unfortunately
we only bottled 112 cases.
2006 Pinot Noir
Trenton View
Vineyard
Medium dark garnet color. Aromas of dark
fruit, spice, sous bois, wood (not oak) and a
hint of bacon fat. Fairly tight, the flavors echo
the aromas. There is excellent acidity and a
slight bit of apparent tannin. It is surprisingly
dark and deep for this vineyard, especially considering
that my early impression of the vintage
was that it would produce lighter, prettier
wines than usual. A strict barrel selection from
the vineyard, we bottled 121 cases.
2006 Pinot Noir
Trenton Estate
Vineyard
This is the 34th commercial release from these
vines. While I wasn't around for the first ones,
I have been around long enough to notice one
unmistakable truth; every year the wine speaks
of its place of origin. While the structure (tannin,
acid, body) will vary with the vintage, the
aromatic profile and flavors are always readily
identifiable. There is a there there!
Medium ruby color. Aromas of dark red, almost
black fruits-black raspberry, cherry, sweet
rhubarb, along with clove, passion fruit, and
cardamom. In the mouth it is silky and full,
more fruit forward than the 2005 or 2007, yet
more structured than the 2003. It is simply
delicious now and every time we have opened
it we have had a very hard time keeping some
in the bottle to see how it develops over time.
There is enough structure that it should improve
for a few more years and give pleasure
for some years beyond that. 268 cases 750 ml,
9 cases magnums bottled.
2005 Zinfandel
Trenton Station
Vineyard
I sometimes joke that I never drink zinfandel.
Well, that is not true. I simply don't drink a
lot of the current manifestations of zinfandel.
I like structure in my wines. Fruit is great but
without acidity to balance it, wines that by
themselves are delicious fail to deliver when it
comes to pairing them with food. We are truly
blessed here in the Russian River Valley with
fruit that ripens fully but still maintains excellent
acidities. The fruit usually is very much in
the blackberry family. However, this vineyard,
while maintaining that excellent structure is
very different in its fruit profile. At first I was
puzzled. Then I deduced (perhaps correctly!)
that since it was on Goldridge soil ( unusual for
zinfandel), it should be different. In any event, it is
the type of zinfandel I would like to drink often.
Very bright, very red fruit. Fresh, focused red
berry, ripe red apple and a spicy note with no
hint of over-ripeness. In the mouth similar
flavors with mouthwatering, refreshing acidity
and moderate tannins. This wine is very reminiscent
of the Swan zins from the early 70's
from Dry Creek Valley. Hopefully it will age
as well! 138 cases bottled.
2007 Côtes du Rosa
This is our 18th vintage of this wine! Over the
last year we have gone to the closed stacks
of the library and pilfered a few bottles to see
how they are doing. The fascinating thing
was that while the winemaking and vineyard
management has resulted in less rustic, more
refined wines over the years, the basic fruit
character has remained constant.
Bright aromas of fresh red berries, ruby
grapefruit and liquid black pepper. In the
mouth it is quite fresh, a little tight and a bit
leaner than the last couple of vintages. These
old, dry farmed vines and the whole cluster
fermentation has delivered again. I would,
however, suggest different food pairings this
year. Instead of our go-to mixed grill recommendation,
I would try something a little more
refined. Something that needs a bright wine to
cut through the richness. Maybe King Salmon,
maybe wild mushrooms sautˇed in a little butter
and olive oil. Maybe just a mid-week burger.
Or you could just bury it in the cellar for a
few years like I will do and then bring it out to
fool the wine fools! (Like lots of friends like
to do with me.). I think it will surprise people
with its humble origins. 119 cases bottled.
Please Send Us Your Email Address
We are doing our best to reduce the waste
and expense of mailing large numbers of
newsletters. Please help us by giving us
an email address. Some wineries have
already eliminated any option of snail
mail, and, while we are not quite ready
to do that, we would like to cut our mass
mailing down by a bunch this year. We
will not send you a large file with our
newsletter in it, but a
link to our website
where it will be posted. Our newsletter
comes out three times per year. We will
also send out brief notices occasionally
about special events. We will never share
your address with anyone. So please,
send us a working email address! And
make sure that you white list us - joe@swanwinery.com.
Click here to start receiving email newsletters, or
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Upcoming Events!
March 6-8, 13-15. BARREL TASTING!
First and foremost is the 31st annual Wine Road Barrel Tasting! For complete program information and tickets go to www.wineroad.com. The event is
the first two weekends in March (7-8, 14-15) but we will be open the Fridays of those weekends as well. Hours are 11-4 all six days. We will be pouring
and offering futures of our 2007 zinfandels and syrahs as well as our very rare Matthew's Station Tannat! We will have a rotating cast of characters
helping us, including Geology Professor emeritus and local vineyards soil guru Terry Wright! If you can't make it and would like to purchase
futures, contact us and we will e-mail you the information.
April 4-Fools in April Event
Since we are not open on April 1, this is as close as we could get. Local winemaking legend John Holdredge will be here pouring our wine, telling tall
tales and answering the questions I have always been afraid to answer. He will also sign bottles for you! And, just to even things up I (Rod) will be at
Holdredge Winery in Healdsburg. Stop by both tasting rooms and find out what we really think about each others wines.
First Saturdays in April, June and August. DATES TENTATIVE
We are celebrating a big year this year. Joseph Swan Vineyards was bonded in 1969 so this fall will be our 40th anniversary. While we haven't decided
exactly how we will celebrate, we are tentatively planning something for the above three Saturdays. Old wine from the library will be part of the mix.
We will be sending out e-mail notices ahead of time and probably posting it on our web site. Stay tuned!
Joe's Drinking Buddies
Wine Club Update:
We are limiting our total club membership to 250 members. This will allow us to provide members with some of our small lot wines and to
continue providing personalized service. Once we reach our limit, we'll maintain a waiting list. At this time, we still have a few memberships
available.
Joe's Drinking Buddies enjoy 10% off all current releases and library wines. Members of both clubs receive a 15% discount off all current
releases and 10% off library wines. Being a Buddy means you get special offers, a discount on your wine and, once in a blue moon, a party.
Did you know? We allow substitutions on your wine club shipments! Once you receive an e-mail from me notifying you of the standard shipment
and its cost, you have a week to write me back with your substitutions and/or additions. You can also elect to combine shipments to save
some money. Just write to Karen at joe@swanwinery.com before shipping to let me know.
3-bottle members - we will have your March shipment available at Barrel Tasting for pick up so come on by, sample some great wines and take some home. We look forward to seeing you.
Thank you from Rod, Lynn, Karen and Cody
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