The role of clones and vineyard selections in New World vineyards.
We hear a lot about various preferred varietal clones these days. The notion actually became prominent back in the 1980s when new clones of Pinot Noir proved better for certain California terroirs.
A clone is a virus-free cutting registered, in the case of California, at the University of California at Davis. In former times there was only one registered clone of Zinfandel, plus a commonly agreed upon "old vine" clone. Both widely planted.
With the excitement of enhanced performance of various Pinot Noir clones, a host of new clones became available, all virus-free. Some were old standards: Martini, Wadensvil, Pommard, Bien Nacido. New clones were added in the 1990s, known as Dijon clones even though all Pinot Noir clones originated in Burgundy. These are known by numbers. Clone 777 is particularly favored in Oregon and California.
Most New World vineyards are not necessarily planted to clones. Registered clones insure virus-free, true to type cuttings. But most New World vineyards are planted to vineyard selection cuttings. In short, that means that cuttings are taken from a tried and true vineyard. If a particular vineyard is known to produce superior fruit, you can be assured that other viticulturists in the region will come calling.
Today our estimate is that most New World Pinot Noir vineyards are grown from clones, since there is a different spectrum of flavor elements represented in the various clones; and most New World winemakers seem to agree that the best Pinot Noir is made from a mix of clones.
Zinfandel is another matter, entirely. No one seems to know what registered clones of Zinfandel even exist. (I'll be happy for any instruction anyone might offer on this matter.) Nearly all the major Zinfandel vineyards are either historic (who knows what they are) or planted from vineyard selections.
