My Photo

search the juice

January 2008

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
    1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30 31    

traffic


  • Food & Drink Blog Top Sites

« A Man After My Own Palette | Main | The Seeping of Sideways »

23 February 2005

Attack of the Clones

ClonesAlmost all wine, with perhaps the notable exception of that teal-colored stuff next to the beer in the supermarket refrigerator case, is made from the same species of grape:  Vitis vinifera.  This begs the question:  Whence wine diversity?  The wonderfully diverse wine selection that fills up shelves in your local wine store can be attributed to different grape varieties rather than different grape species.  Do you find it difficult to get your mind around the concept of grape variety?  Think about apples.  Compare Granny Smith to Gala to Golden Delicious to Fuji.  They’re all apples, right?  Yet each one smells and tastes dramatically different from the other.  These differences are attributed to apple variety not apple species.  So, while Merlot and Chardonnay are both made from vinifera grapes, they are quite distinct wines made from entirely different grape varieties.

Now that we have the grape variety concept all squared away in our minds, let’s scramble our brains again.  You’ve seen wine labeled “Pinot Noir” before, correct?  What about wine labeled “Pinot Grigio” or “Pinot Gris?”  “That’s easy.”  You say.  “They are just different varieties.”  Not so fast, Einstein.  Technically speaking, Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris/Grigio are the same grape variety.  Pinot Gris/Grigio is simply the mutant clone of Pinot Noir.  Huh? 

A quick French lesson will help us out of this clonal confusion.  “Noir” means black en français; and “Gris” is the Gallic word for gray.  These terms refer to the grapes’ appearance.  Pinot Noir’s skin is dark red, or black.  While Pinot Gris’s skin is gray (well, pinkish gray to be exact).  And, boy, do these mutant-clone siblings produce dramatically distinct wines.

PinotnoirPinot Noir is among the most persnickety of grapes to grow.  Noir vines have an affinity for cool climates, yet they are susceptible to spring frosts.  Pinot Noir is also vulnerable to almost any and all vineyard pests, gout, mold, taint, dropsy, scurvy, etc.  In fact, many growers don’t want the headaches that planting Pinot Noir unavoidably brings.  As a result, Pinot Noir isn’t as common as other wines.  It’s also noticeably more expensive due to the fact that it’s such a high maintenance vine.  However, when Pinot Noir is planted and successfully raised, it can produce a beautiful bottle of wine.  Pinot Noir wine ranges from lovely scents of strawberry and cherry to otherworldly scents of mocha and eucalyptus.  The gold standard for Pinot Noir is the Burgundy region of central France.  Up-and-coming areas for Pinot Noir include Oregon, New Zealand, and the central California coast.  Treat yourself to a mini Pinot Noir flight from the simple (Brancott Pinot Noir, ’03, $11 – New Zealand), to the complex (Carneros Creek Reserve, ’01, $20 – California), to the sublime (Chehalem “Rion” Reserve Pinot Noir, ’01, $50 – Oregon).

PinotgrisPinot Gris comes bottled to most wine drinkers as “Pinot Grigio” (“Grigio” is how someone named Vincenzo would say “gray”).  Pinot Gris/Grigio produces white wine that varies in character depending on how it’s grown and vinified.  Once upon a time Pinot Grigio was going to be the next big thing - a la Chardonnay.  As a result mucho Pinot Grigio was planted and mucho mediocre wine was produced. When grown and vinified with care, Pinot Gris/Grigio can produce a fairly full-bodied wine with both citrus and floral character.  When aged in oak barrels, a layer of spicy-sweet complexity is added. Like its dark clone, Pinot Gris/Grigio prefers cool climates.  Oregon winemakers are producing ever more and ever better Pinot Gris.  The northern Italians also produce molto Pinot Grigio.  Learn to love this clone; try King Estate Pinot Gris, ’02 ($16) and Kris Pinot Grigio, ’02 ($13).

Pinotblanc_1In conclusion let me say….Oh my god!  Did you see that?  Pinot Gris just mutated into another clone.  The grape’s skin is kind of a grayish-white color.  Actually, this Pinot Gris clone has been around for quite some time.  It’s called Pinot Blanc.  Think of it as sort of a second clone-cousin to Pinot Noir.  This mutant clone makes a white wine, which is more about texture and acidity and less about aroma and flavor.  While it doesn’t provide the nose with much action, Pinot Blanc will make your mouth water and your tongue feel, well, better lubricated.  It’s what I would call a frisky, viscous-y wine. Let your tongue dance to Trimbach Pinot Blanc, ’01 ($12).  And get your mouth watering with Steele Pinot Blanc, ’02 ($16) from Santa Barbara (AKA Sidewaysville).

Raise your glass to varieties, mutations, and the three Pinot clones.  Cheers.

TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
https://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83452253e69e200d8346cb02969e2

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Attack of the Clones:

Comments

Lenn

Great post on Pinot 101. And, I'll mention Lieb Family Cellars' Pinot Blanc...which I'll be brining along if we meet in NYC this spring. It's one of my favorite L.I. whites and it's a funny story as well.

When they first started the winery...they assumed/thought they had a vineyard full of Chardonnay...but it was actually Pinot Blanc!

They produce a still PB and a sparkling PB...which actually made it into WS's fairly recent sparkling wine issue.

beau

Oh now I've got to come to LI - a sparkling PB sounds just odd enough to get me drinking a glass.

Heck I just might go on a tasting tour of LI & then wander up to Montreal..

Noah

Fantastic post. I recently had the Chahalem reserve pinot in a blind tasting and about 90% of the people thought it was premier cru cote de nuits. Really beautiful stuff. Incedentally the tasting was between 02 oregon and 02 burgundy which no one knew prior to the tasting. worked really well as a concept.

The 2002 Soter Beacon Hill also carried its package very elegantly. worth checking out.

beau

Thanks for the props!

I've recently been digging on both Oregon and NZ Pinot. I love Burgundy, but the selection here isn't the greatest and the prices are not good either. And I'll admit to the fact that my Burgundy knowledge is limited. Know any good Burgundy Bloggers?

Thanks for the tip-off on Soter Beacon Hill. I'll see if I can find it.

Cheers.

The comments to this entry are closed.

site sponsors

Vino Voyeur

ads

subscribe

cc