FANCY a soupcon of Solaris, maybe a splash of Souvignier Gris, or how about a glass of Vodic? These might not be household names, and some might sound like brand names of drain cleaner, but if global warming continues unabated maybe we will see more of them. Together with Artaban and Floréal they are hybrid grapes that are being planted in Europe.
A hybrid vine is formed where two different species of grapevines are combined to create a new species. Usually this was done with the European vitis vinifera and American vine species. A famous red hybrid in Australia is chambourcin which was bred in France in 1963. Vidal Blanc is another hybrid and is used in Canada to produce ice wine by famous producers like Inniskillin Niagara. They were breed initially to overcome Phylloxera, but also to combat pests and diseases. Wildly popular for a time, the French realised that the quality of wine was poor, and they have largely been removed. But at one point in the 1950’s they occupied 30% of French vineyards. However, times are changing, and with a global climate that produces extreme weather, their ability to combat diseases such as downy and powdery mildew is once again being appreciated. Artaban, Floréal, Vidoc and Voltis are now allowed in a number of PGI’s in southern France and the Loire Valley. In the Languedoc producer Les Vignobles Foncalieu have released a red wine made from Artaban under their NU.Vo.Té label, as well as a rosé blend made from Artaban and Vidoc. Chambourcin may well be set for a renaissance in Australia, if the wet, humid conditions we have experienced on the east coast, due to La Niña, continue as it can cope with these weather patterns. The red grape is currently planted in the Hastings Valley and Shoalhaven Coast of New South Wales. Cassegrain winery were early pioneers of the variety in Australia.
The white grape Solaris is the national grape of Sweden! Sounds impressive and is another hybrid that this time was created in Freiburg in Germany in 1975 by crossing Merzling and the immediately forgettable GM6493. Suited to cool climates, and again disease resistant, it is planted in northern Italy and in the blossoming English wine industry. Solaris creator, Dr Norbert Becker, later created Souvignier Gris which turns out to be a marriage between Seyval Blanc and a white German cross called Zaehringer. Similar in style to pinot blanc, it is planted in Austria, Germany, and Italy. All these hybrids share the same resilience to fungal disease which reduces the necessity to spray and in so doing makes them suitable for organic viticulture.
A cross is the product of two varieties from the same species of vine. A cross is more common than hybrids. The most famous crossing is Pinotage which is a cross between the two Vitis vinifera grapes pinot noir and cinsault. It was produced in South Africa at the University of Stellenbosch in 1925. Cinsault was known as Hermitage at the time in South Africa, so hence the name Pinotage. It was not until 1961 that the grape was finally bottled and produced commercially in South Africa. Another example is Müller Thurgau from Germany.
After crossing swords with crosses and disappearing down the rabbit hole of international hybrids, and we have only scratched the surface, it is far more comforting to discuss clones. This is where a particularly good grape vine from a vineyard is selected, and cuttings are taken to propagate them. This then creates a new sub-variety and given a name. Some countries use the word biotype. Clones are often bred in nurseries and when new vineyards are planted vignerons can order the clone. For example, the most common pinot noir clone in Australia is MV6. MV stands for mother vine and it can be traced back to the cuttings taken by James Busby in Burgundy in 1831 and was planted in the Hunter Valley and commercially grown in the Riverina.
Some clones are named after the place where they were propagated, such as Davis clones (from University of California Davis Campus). Or named after the vineyard region the cuttings were taken, such as Dijon clones from Burgundy, France. Some cuttings have been smuggled into the country and planted. These have the colloquial name of ‘suitcase’ clones.
University of California, Davis campus is world famous for collecting cuttings and producing clones. It began in the 1940’s with Dr Harold Olmo importing cuttings from France. Some of the oldest pinot cuttings were from Pommard in Burgundy and this collective group of Pommard clones is still a popular choice in planting new vineyards in Australia. Here it was the CSIRO that imported vine cultivars in 1962 that started our research. Two large and important nurseries in Australia are Yalumba Nursery in the Eden Valley and Chalmers in NW Victoria who specialise in Italian varieties.
Pinot has the most complex clonal dossier with over 400 clones available. I’ve written recently about them in the 2022 May/June edition of Winestate so read that! But I’m constantly being told about other clones I have not heard about before. Clyde Park in Geelong have a Germanic clone called F6 V7. German pinot planted in Australia, why? Maybe ask previous owner Gary Farr. It makes a nice fruit driven wine in Clyde Park’s Single Block B2 Pinot Noir.
You would think that cabernet sauvignon would have a plethora of clones, but it doesn’t. There are only around 45 clones world-wide. The Reynella Selection is a descendant of a vineyard planted in McLaren Vale in the mid 1840’s, according to the Yalumba nursery. The most planted clone in Coonawarra is one called SA125. This clone crops up in a number of other regions making good wines including Giant Steps Harry’s Monster in the Yarra Valley and Voyager Estates ‘The Modern’ in Margaret River.
Advances in clonal selection have the potential to improve the breed and make better wines. But often you don’t get the perfect clone. One clone may lack, say acidity, but be generous with fruit. But blending another clone that supplies that acid vibrancy you get the perfect marriage. So, creating wines with multiple clones is one way to demonstrate Aristotle’s theory that “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”.