I recently did some research on grapevines and found out a bunch of fun facts. For example, grapevines can live more than 100 years, although prime fruit production occurs between years 10 and 30. And while there are only 65 species of grapes in the world, there are literally thousands of different grape varieties out there.
That got me thinking: with so few species, how is it possible to have so many varieties?
It all has to do with the ways growers propagate grapevines and how they create new types of grapes; to propagate grapes you can either use seedlings or clones. Using seeds is also known as “sexual reproduction.” You plant a seed, it grows and it’s flower gets gets pollinized (whoo hoo—that’s the sexy part) and it sprouts into a vine. While commonly used by home gardeners, starting by seed isn’t widely used in commercial farming because plants grown by seed aren’t necessarily exactly the same as their parent plant.
Cloning sounds scary, but it’s simply cutting a twig off of a vine and either planting it or grafting it onto existing rootstock. This leads to a plant that’s genetically identical to its parent. A single grape species can have multiple clones, each with its own characteristics.
To develop new grape varieties you can either create a “cross” or a “hybrid”. A cross is the cross pollination of grapes within one grape species. A hybrid is the cross pollination of grapes from two species. An example of a common crossed grape is Cabernet Sauvignon. It’s a crossing of two grapes from the Vitis vinfera species, Cabernet France and Sauvignon Blanc. Another example is Pinotage. Its parents are Pinot Noir and Cinsault grapes, which, again, both come from the Vitis vinifera species.
Hybrid grapes are typically crosses between European and American grapes. They’re a bit controversial because some wine drinkers don’t like the notion of creating something that crosses species. These people also likely prefer pure bred dogs to mutts, but I digress. The proponents of hybrids, on the other hand, believe you can get the best characteristics from each “parent” grape, so why not? Some typical hybrid grapes are Vignoles and Chambourcin.
Once you have a cross or a hybrid grape, you can produce more by either planting seeds or creating clones.
Got all that?
In a recent conversation with Chris Upchurch, the winemaker at DeLille Cellars and Upchuch Vineyard, I got the skinny on cloning. For the whole story, catch up with part one here
Q: Let’s talk about cloning. If I understand correctly, cloning is taking a single vine and grafting it on to rootstock so that you are producing genetically identical grapes. What is the downside of using clones?
A: There is no downside and that is all we do. The other way of reproduction is seeds, but what most people don’t understand is that Cabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay, etc. are not species, they are traits. It’s kind of like blue eyes. You would expect people with blue eyes to have a kid with blue eyes. That happens most of the time, but not always because of recessive genes. And that is what happens when you plant seeds. You could take nothing but Cabernet Sauvignon seeds and plant them throughout a vineyard and you would see mostly Cabernet, but not everything would be Cabernet because of recessive genes. So in order to prevent that, we take vine cuttings and propagate them by planting twigs in the ground, which will create roots and another genetically identical plant.
Now the interesting thing is if you plant it in different soils and climatic variations, the plant will mutate a little. It will be a little different from its original plant, which then creates another clone. Through centuries of doing this we have come up with a number of different clones. With Cabernet you might get a clone from Argentina, which will be slightly different than a clone from Napa or Bordeaux.
These traits don’t make one wine taste like blueberries and another taste like cherries, it’s more like the traits are representative of how the vines grow. For example, one might have bigger berries, another might retain its acids a little bit better and another might ripen slower. These things will ultimately impact the wine’s flavor and the structure, but it’s not like you can say, “I’ll plant this clone and my wine will taste like blueberries.” It doesn’t work that way.
Q: I have read that you are a leader in cloning. Can you tell me a little but about what you have been doing?
A: Well, I wouldn’t call myself a leader, but DeLille was one of the first to start using clones up here in Washington. Prior to 2000, every Cabernet in Washington was from one clone. Back then, Washington Cabernet’s were Clone 8 from California. So what we did was try other clones and I was one of the first to do clone research and plant a variety of clones.
Q: What do you make of biodynamic wines, which are made by a method that seems as spiritual and philosophical as it does ecological? Is it woo-woo or is there science behind it?
A: Some of the greatest wines in the world are biodynamic, especially in France. It is a holistic method of growing grapes, but it is one technique and there are others. I’m from New Jersey so I’m not that holistic.
We have a sustainable approach, which is a more pragmatic way of green growing. We use low-impact farming and are as green as we can be, which for me is a much more practical way to be a conscientious grower.
So there you have it wine lovers. Just remember that what matters most is that you like the wine, regardless of its lineage. Cheers to that!
ps: Thanks to Kristina Mueller Eberhard for the photos of Chris Upchurch.