Unpacking the Story of Suitcase Clones

Back in the 1960s and 70s, when aspiring Oregon and California winemakers wanted to start a vineyard, one of the first challenges was finding grapevines. There were no local nurseries selling quality vitis vinifera grape budwood needed to make wine. So many enterprising vintners went to Europe and sourced grapevines on their own, to graft onto older rootstock. These grapevine cuttings were carried home in Samsonites and other luggage — so people started calling these independently imported grapevines Samsonite or suitcase clones.

The tales of how certain US wineries acquired their vine cuttings are a mix of fact and fable. Al Brounstein, the late founder of Diamond Creek Vineyards said he used budwood from Bordeaux, France when he planted his original 22-acre vineyard. Paso Robles wine pioneer Gary Eberle started his family’s Estrella River Winery with M. Chapoutier Syrah cuttings plucked from an abandoned UC Davis vineyard.

But by far, the grape varietal with the most clones, and stories of smuggled cuttings, is Pinot Noir. Pinot Noir clones growing in vineyards around the US include numbered Dijon, Wädenswil and Pommard clones, as well as named varieties like Calera, Swan and Erath—each with their own characteristics and flavor profile. And if you love sipping a Pinot Noir with layers of flowers, red and black fruit and earth, you’re probably enjoying a few different clones.

What is a Pinot Noir grapevine clone?

Dick Erath by Oregon State University is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Over time, every grapevine experiences genetic mutations that create slightly different plants yielding fruit with different characteristics. “The older the varietal, the more subject it is to mutations,” says Mike Sullivan, winemaker and co-owner of Benovia Winery in Healdsburg. Pinot Noir is ancient; the Romans wrote about it in the first century A.D, according to The Prince of Pinot, and it’s planted throughout Burgundy in northern France. Today Pinot Noir has more than 1,000 registered Pinot Noir clones or variations.

But it turns out not everything we call a clone is legit. True clones are genetically identical plants that have been analyzed and cataloged by an institution like the University of Burgundy in Dijon, the Swiss Federal Research Center in Wädenswil, or the University of California at Davis’ Foundation Plant Services says Sullivan. So every time a grower chooses a numbered clone like Dijon 777, 115 or 828 they can expect it to have the same reliable characteristics. The vine’s DNA is mapped, it’s heat treated to rid it of viruses, and cultivated in a test vineyard to make sure it’s disease-free.

The process to get a vine ready for commercial planting can take a decade or two, as Dick Erath explains in this history of his clone 95 originally sourced from Clos Vougeot in Burgundy.

Anne Moeller Racke photo credit Dawn Heumann

Erath’s clone 95 is a true clone. But others like Calera, Swan, Hanzell and Chalone aren’t clones at all; they’re actually field selections. Anne Moeller Racke, founder of Blue Farm Wines, says these are named for the particular California winery that was the first source of the bud wood. Many of these field selections haven’t been studied, but people like the fruit they produce.

Certain field selections are especially desirable because of their backstories, says Chris Kajani, winemaker and president at Bouchaine Vineyards in The Carneros. For example, Martin Ray started Mt. Eden Vineyards in 1945 in the Santa Cruz appellation with cuttings from Paul Masson’s La Cresta vineyard. It’s thought that Masson sourced cuttings from one his friend Louis Latour’s Grand Cru vineyards in Burgundy.

Winemaker Chris Kajani in a Vineyard — Winemaker Chris Kajani in Vineyard by Bob McClenehan

The Calera clone is named after Josh Jensen’s pioneering Central Coast winery. “Jensen interned at Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and supposedly the budwood from the Calera came from DRC,” Kajani says. Bouchaine’s Calera field selections came from Paul Hobbs’ vineyard. He acquired it from Larry Hyde, who got cuttings from Jensen in the 1970s.

By the late 1970s, winemakers had choices of whether to use university clones, or find field selections from a vineyard they admired.

Why Pinot Noir clones and field selections matter

A winemaker crafting a red Bordeaux blend can add splashes of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot to round out their Cabernet Sauvignon. But most Pinot Noir bottlings are just Pinot Noir. So winemakers mix Pinot Noir clones and field selections to create balance and nuance. “Clones are like shades of color,” says Racke. “The clones act like different varietals. You need them so you could have a blend.”

At her home vineyard in Sonoma, Racke planted 115, Swan and 667 so she could blend them into a single, multidimensional wine. She says 115 is perfumed, uplifting and very aromatic, while Swan adds texture and earthy notes. The 667 brings acidity and black fruit flavors. By contrast, the Calera clone is so lively and aromatic it makes a beautiful stand-alone wine.

While the clone selection matters, Racke notes that the Calera clone varies when planted at Bouchaine, the Donum estate East slope or her Blue Farm Riverbed Vineyard. In her 30+ years as the vice president of vineyard operations at Buena Vista and president and winegrower at Donum Estates, Racke noticed that many characteristics attributed to clones are more of a reflection of the way that vine performs on a specific site. For example, when a Donum selection was grown on the west slope, it produced stellar fruit that they bottled on its own. But on the east side slope, it stayed green, so they added it to the estate blend. “It’s the site that makes so much of the difference,” says Racke.

Bouchaine's Swan, Calera and Mt Eden Clone Pinot Noir

At Bouchaine, Kajani makes blends as well as single-clone Pinot Noirs. Bouchaine’s vineyards are planted with Swan, Pommard, Dijon, Calera, and Mount Eden selections, as well as numbered clones like the new 828, which has notes reminiscent of Earl Grey black tea. Tasting a few selections side by side showcases different facets of Pinot Noir. The Calera offers juicy fruit, texture and depth. Kajani says the Swan is a lighter wine with lots of perfume and high-toned aromas, while the Mt. Eden is dark and brooding. “I really love that Pinot has so many different personalities,” says Kajani.