Send in the clones

In the wine world, few topics are more boring than clones. Developed in laboratories, propagated like fruit flies with cuddly names such as “76” and “95,” clones represent the wine world at its most clinical. Talking about wine in terms of clones is like talking about a Ferrari in terms of camshafts. And yet among winemakers, there is no hotter topic. Clonal research involves seeking the right vine for the right place; ultimately, finding the right clone means the difference between making a wine and letting a wine make itself.

That’s just what’s happened for Chardonnay in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. After years of lagging behind Pinot Noir, Chardonnay has finally blossomed, fulfilling the potential that producers had long hoped for. After all, Oregon lies on the same latitude as Burgundy, where Chardonnay has an uncanny affinity for the terroir.

Chardonnay’s newfound success in Oregon is all thanks to a new selection of clones known as Dijon.

Recently a group of Chardonnay producers formed the Oregon Chardonnay Alliance to champion the new breed. Seven wineries -- Adelsheim, Argyle, Chehalem, Domaine Drouhin Oregon, Domaine Serene, Hamacher and Ponzi -- have banded together to get the word out on these new clones and to announce an end to Chardonnay mediocrity from Oregon.

The story of Oregon Chardonnay begins in 1966. David Lett, a recent oenology graduate from UC Davis, had developed such a jones for Burgundy wines that he wanted to start one of his own -- somewhere. He pored over maps and climate charts, considered the coast of Portugal and New Zealand, but settled on the Willamette Valley.

Lett’s obsession was Pinot Noir, but he planted Burgundy’s other great grape variety, Chardonnay, as well, transposing plant material from UC Davis -- California material, naturally -- to Oregon, in what amounted to some climatological wishful thinking. Vines went into the ground, and over the next 10 to 15 years, Pinot was a critical success, and Lett and his fellow homesteaders -- Dick Erath, Dick Ponzi, David Adelsheim and others -- were hailed as pioneers for the next Burgundy.

But for all of their success with Pinot, Chardonnay languished. Even in the best years, it was utterly forgettable. Flavors were insipid, textures were completely out of whack: The wines tasted flat even as they took the enamel off your teeth. To compensate, winemakers lavished them with oak, which muddled them further, burdening what little fruit there was with flavors of butterscotch and popcorn.

Adelsheim and his fellow pioneers knew that Chardonnay should thrive here. They had a strong hunch that the original UC Davis plant material was probably not the right stuff.

They were correct. Early plantings of Chardonnay in Oregon consisted of a clonal selection called #108. Although it was perfect for California’s warm springs, cool summers and golden autumns, for Oregon it was as ill-fitting as a cheap suit. Vines flowered late, developed slowly, cropped at huge levels and took so long to ripen that harvest invariably bumped into Oregon’s fall rain season.

In the late ‘70s, Adelsheim became acquainted with the work of French viticulturalist Raymond Bernard. Bernard worked for ONIVINS (Office National Interprofessionnel des Vins), a field office for the French Ministry of Agriculture based in Dijon, where he was given the task of isolating clonal variations of Burgundy’s vines as expressed in more than 1,000 years of viticultural activity.

Bernard’s work led to more than 400 different variants, but he concluded that for Chardonnay, four from Meursault excelled -- 76, 78, 95 and 96.

Distinctive wines

THROUGH the efforts of Adelsheim and others, these clones were brought to an Oregon State University lab to propagate in 1984. By the early ‘90s, wineries were planting trials and making wines with the new material.

In the last 10 years the Dijon Chardonnay vines have been thriving in Oregon’s cool climate, and now they’re producing wines that are every bit as distinctive and unique as the region’s much heralded Pinots. Like the Pinots, Oregon Chardonnays are gently perfumed, well-structured, mineral-tinged wines with elegant, high-toned fruit and reasonable alcohol levels. As in Meursault, the fruit is rich without being cloying, redolent of fresh apples and pears, with a hint of nuttiness.

The best place to see the differences between the old and new clones is in the ground. That’s not easy to do anymore, since most wineries have already pulled out the old clone. But at Ponzi Vineyards in Beaverton, Luisa Ponzi still has a few 108 vines that her father planted in the ‘70s.

In Oregon, she points out, Dijon clusters set well, meaning all the berries are of a uniform size and shape, favoring even ripening. Dijon grapes themselves are smaller, yielding a more concentrated juice. And best of all, they ripen earlier -- more than two weeks earlier in most vintages, allowing producers to avoid fall rains that can ruin a harvest.

There are significant differences in flavor as well. Rollin Soles of Argyle Winery in Dundee was among the first to plant Dijon -- he was eager to do so since Chardonnay is an important component of sparkling wine, which he has made for two decades. Though all winemakers worry about ripeness, it’s of particular concern to a sparkling winemaker. The fruit’s melange of sugars, acids and flavor maturity involves a critical calculation: These factors influence the second fermentation, in the bottle. Consequently, Soles is something of a ripeness technician.

Soles contends that 108 and Dijon fruit share a youthful flavor progression that runs from green grass to green apple; thereafter, the two clones part ways. Clone 108 continues to ripen along a path that Soles calls “a cross between green and golden apples,” whereas Dijon clones taste riper -- plainly golden apple. Thereafter, 108 clones ripen to tropical pineapple flavors, but Dijon clones move into the pear spectrum, with peach, perhaps, at full ripeness.

Where Soles, Adelsheim and Ponzi capture their wines’ flavors on this spectrum is a function of vintage, as well as house style. But each are classic Oregon in their way: An Argyle Chardonnay typically offers lean, fresh pear scents and brisk pear flavors, accented by an earthiness that evokes the Red Hills of Dundee. Adelsheim’s wine shares that earthy quality, though his Caitlin’s Reserve from the very warm 2003 vintage is demonstrably peachier than the Argyle. Ponzi’s 2002 Reserve is reserved by contrast but with a pronounced spiciness that is likely how her vineyard expresses its own earthy qualities.

And then there is Ponzi’s husband, Eric Hamacher, whose Chardonnays are among the most tightly coiled in the region, taking years to develop. Only now is he releasing his 2001 Cuvee Forets Diverses.

At Bill Stoller’s vineyard, a tightly spaced carpet of vines near Highway 99W slopes gently down the red clay bench of the Dundee Hills, looking for all the world like Corton-Charlemagne, the great hillside planting of Chardonnay in Burgundy’s Cote de Beaune. Stoller, in a venture with Chehalem winemaker Harry Peterson-Nedry, was among the first to commit to 100% Dijon clones. Chehalem, Adelsheim, Domaine Serene and others purchase fruit from Stoller; all make formidable Chardonnays in their own right as well. Each expresses the vineyard’s attributes differently: Chehalem’s Chardonnays are ripe as a summer peach, while Stoller’s are dense and pear-like.

The real trick of Dijon clones, says Stoller, is that they achieve full ripeness and flavor maturity without high sugars -- which, if not held in check, invariably correspond to undesirably high alcohols. On a tour of a steep Chardonnay vineyard at nearby Domaine Serene, winemaker Tony Rynders agreed: “With these clones you have a tighter parallel between sugar accumulation and flavor development,” he said. His 2002 Clos du Soleil pushes the ripeness envelope, but the exuberant pear flavor is held in check by fine acids and a precise line of minerality.

The sugar-flavor development ratio is something that Oregon Chardonnay shares with Burgundy, and few are better qualified to make this observation than Philippe Drouhin. Drouhin serves as estate manager for his family’s properties in Beaune and in Oregon; when the Drouhin family, one of Burgundy’s most respected negociants, set down stakes in Oregon in 1988, it served to validate the efforts of the Chardonnay pioneers. It also forced comparisons between these two regions.

Dijon clones are so at home in both places that Drouhin finds himself struck by their similarities: “The overall heat makes a difference in the end,” he admits, and points to more intense color and concentration in drier Oregon. But this only means, he says, that “the differences you would notice come from soil and climate pattern.” Drouhin’s sister Veronique makes the wines at Domaine Drouhin Oregon, bringing a French sense of restraint to her 2003 Oregon Chardonnay “Arthur,” which has a complex mineral texture that amplifies the pure ripe pear fruit.

Flavors like these, reflecting a sense of place with such clarity, are the very reason winemakers get so excited about clones.

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Oregon Chardonnays come of age

The new wave of Oregon Chardonnays share a flavor spectrum ranging from pear and apple to peach and melon, rarely straying into more tropical, super-ripe flavors. They share a tone as well: Though they can be rich and ample on the palate, they’re rarely heavy or flabby -- instead, their textures are lifted with a finely delineated acid component and a bright minerality. All of the wines below come from the Willamette Valley.

2003 Adelsheim Vineyards “Caitlin’s Reserve.” The ’03 Caitlin’s is rich and broad, with flavors of ripe peach overlaid with a clean vanilla scent. It has brisk acids and a clean finish. At John & Pete’s Fine Wines in West Hollywood, (310) 657-3080; Du Vin in West Hollywood, (310) 855-1161 and online at www.adelsheim.com; about $30.

2001 Argyle Winery “Nuthouse.” This older vintage serves as a fine indicator of how the Dijon clones age. It has a densely earthy, almost feral soil scent that serves to remind that this wine is fermented using indigenous yeasts. Clean, fresh pear flavors and a pleasing hint of bottle age inform the palate. It’s ripe but not overblown, with enough bright acid to rein in the finish. At Silverlake Wine in Los Angeles, (323) 662-9024 and online at www.argylewine.com; about $30.

2002 Chehalem Winery “Ian’s Reserve.” Probably the ripest of the wines in this grouping, Harry Peterson-Nedry’s Ian’s offers scents of corn-silk and melon, with a top note of sweet oak aromas. The palate offers ripe golden apple flavors; the wine has a surprising bolt of acidity that gives the finish a nice contour. Wine Country in Signal Hill, (562) 597-8303; Wine House in Los Angeles, (310) 479-3731; about $30.

2003 Domaine Drouhin Oregon “Arthur.” This is an impressively restrained Chardonnay despite an extremely warm vintage. The aromas are broad and fresh, with hints of minerality. The flavors are of ripe butter pear and golden apple, lifted by good acidity and that earthy minerality that gives the wine length. At Mission Wines in South Pasadena, (626) 403-9463; Red Carpet in Glendale, (818) 247-5544; Beverages and More; about $27.

2002 Domaine Serene “Clos de Soleil.” Not a shy wine -- it has bright pear scents and expressive pear flavors. Its exuberance is reined in by firm acids and, like most of the others here, an earthy high tone of minerality. Available online at www.domaineserene.net. And at Hi-Time Wine Cellars in Costa Mesa, (949) 650-8463; about $38.

2001 Hamacher “Cuvee Forets Diverses.” Eric Hamacher’s wines are typically among the most age-worthy of all Oregon Chardonnays. With aromas of dried pear and toasty oak, this one’s dry on the palate, marked with a long, firm finish. At www.hamacherwines.com and Fireside Cellars in Santa Monica, (310) 393-2888; $25.

2002 Ponzi Reserve. A wine that leads with spices, almost like chai with nutmeg and cinnamon in the mix, overlaid on fresh apple aromas. Its flavors walk the line between ripe apple and pear, with a beautiful flinty mineral texture for all that ripeness, giving the wine an agreeable tension and length. Woodland Hills Wine Co. in Woodland Hills, (818) 222-1111; Red Carpet; about $30.

2002 Stoller Vineyards. Reticent floral aromas belie the wine’s impressive weight on the palate, a firm and creamy bolt of pear fruit tinged with nectarine. It’s fairly precise in its finish, a contour of minerals and well-expressed oak. The 2003 vintage is available at Malibu Village in Malibu, (310) 456-2924; Wine House; about $25.