Clonal Variations

[ryan opaz]

Do we have any Ampelographors in the house? I'm doing an article about Tempranillo for my site and I have a question.

When is a clone a clone and when is a grape a new grape?

You see in Spain and Portugal Tempranillo has more names for itself than I thought possible. Everytime I go to a new region there is a new grape that turns out to be Tempranillo.

In port wine it's called 'tinto roriz' and some books call it a clonal variation, some say it's just good old Tempranillo.

I know much of what I find in Spain is just pride causing other names to be used. Hell if I was was from Toro I too would want to call my grapes "tinto de toro" sounds nicer, and you aren't confused by the Tempranillo/Rioja connection.

On the other hand, some of these regions have strong differences in the wines they produce. Terrior, or clonal variation? Or just winemaker manipulation?

I realize most vineyards use many clones of the same grape based on micro-climates and other factors, but at some point those clones must set themselves apart from their parents.

Maybe Roy you can tell us if you've had any unblended Tinto Roriz while wandering through the valley and if so, what it was like.

Thanks for the help, Ryan

[Andy Velebil]

I'll try to answer your question, Well, at least part of it.

As far as port goes the only house I know of that uses ungrafted vines is the Quinta Do Noval Nactional. Witch still mantains about 4,000 of these vines. After the Phylloxera desease infected almost all the vines in Portugal in the late 1800's almost all vines were grafted with an american vine which was resistant to the desease.

I remember reading that Croft planted some original ungrafted vines some time ago, but I dont know if they still have those vines.

In Portugal there are lots of different clone vines due to the vary different micro-climates in the region.

The most popular vines are the Mourisco, Tinta Amarela, Tinta Cao, and Touriga Francisca.

Ben Howkins book "Rich, Rare, and Red: A guide to Port" is a great book and resource about the vines in Portugal.

[ryan opaz]

I guess I already knew most of that. I'm more looking for information on how a clone becomes a new varietal. When do you go from having Tinto Roriz another name for tempranillo to Tinto Roriz it's own grape?

Thanks for the help though

[Frederick Blais]

Very interesting question catavino. I think it has more to do with regional culture and limited botanic knowledge back in the early days of viticulture.

Now with DNA analysis it is easy to prove that 2 grapes are the same species. Often it is a cultivar, a species showing a special character because over the years we have favorise the reproduction of this character.

Example: If I plant 100 corns plant this year and at the harverst time I keep only the corns with big yellow seeds. Next Year I'll plan only from these seeds. After a few years I'll get crops with big corn seeds. It is a bit the same with the grapes, in French we call this "cultivar", could be the same in English. It is the same species but with a different gene expression.

I've only tasted once unblanded Tinta Roriz and it was the 2002 from the Cistus brand: Very good wine but less concentration and expression than their 100% touriga nacional. Hard to judge the tipicity when the wines are aged in a good deal of new oak. I'd say that the touriga nacional was showing more licorice and currant flavors as the Tinta Roriz was having more acidity and red berries flavors, rasberry and cherry.

[Steven Kooij]

A clone will NEVER be a different grape variety, simply BECAUSE it is a clone: genetically identical to the parent vine.
Can it provide a different wine than its parent? For sure: the vineyard, the management of the vine itself, the winemaking techniques employed...