Last week I met Davis Bynum. Davis was one of the modern pioneers of Russian River Valley. (The Russians who settled there in the early 1800s planted vines before the Gold Rush of 1849.) In fact, Davis was the first to produce a single vineyard Pinot Noir from the area AND indicate its origins on the label.
Read MoreFiguring out where these clones come from is a bit like researching a family tree before the internet. There’s a fair bit of uncertainty amongst the researchers themselves, so where does that leave the rest of us? Luckily, the chart makes it pretty easy to cross-reference with its column titled “Also Known As”, in which almost every clone other than the Dijon clones show at least one other name. From the US Perspective, the source of Martini 58 is Louis Martini in the USA. From the New Zealand Perspective, the source of Clone 13 is UC Davis, USA. The Australians indicate two origins for their G8V3: UC Davis, USA and Switzerland. Now that we’ve figured that one out, let’s look at the David Bruce Clone. Apparently it was cultivated first by Paul Masson and then by Martin Ray in the US…but way back when, it immigrated from somewhere in the Côte d’Or.
Read More“Paul really likes to use ‘heritage’ clones.” Calera, Swan and Mt. Eden are among their Pinot Noir selections and Wente, Bato and Rudd are among the Chardonnay plantings.
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