Clone

What a clone is

All the vines of, say, Pinot Noir are not identical. Over centuries of cultivation, the variety has accumulated small genetic differences through natural mutation. Some of these differences change how the vine behaves: how much fruit it carries, when it ripens, how resistant it is to disease, how its wine tastes. Each of these distinguishable lines is a clone.

Clones are propagated by taking cuttings from a parent vine, rooting them and growing new plants that are genetically identical to the parent. This is the only way modern vineyards are planted, because seed-grown vines would not be true to type and would revert to a more variable, often less useful, parent.

Why clones matter in the UK

UK vineyards are typically planted to commercial clones, almost always from France, Germany or, increasingly, Italy. The clonal selection within a variety like Pinot Noir runs into the hundreds, and each one has a different behaviour profile. A producer targeting sparkling wine will pick a high-yielding, earlier-ripening clone. A producer targeting still red will pick a lower-yielding, later-ripening clone that produces more concentrated fruit.

The choice of clone interacts with the choice of rootstock, the trellis system, the pruning style and the soil. A clone that performs well in a chalky Sussex vineyard may be the wrong choice for a sandy East Anglian site, and vice versa. This is why UK growers increasingly plant trial plots of new clones and keep detailed records of their performance.

Some common clones in England

For Chardonnay, the most widely planted English clones are the Champagne 76, 95, 96 and 121, with smaller amounts of 96 and 277. For Pinot Noir, the Champagne 115, 386, 777 and 828 are common, alongside a growing use of the so-called "Dijon" clones 113, 114, 115, 667 and 777, originally bred in Burgundy. For Pinot Meunier, the Champagne 865 and similar older clones dominate. For Bacchus, German selections are the main source material.

For Seyval Blanc, the Seyval Blanc 9 is the most common, with smaller amounts of Seyval Blanc 1. For Ortega, the Geisenheim clone is standard. For Regent, several German clones are used. The clonal landscape of the UK is still being mapped, and the industry is moving towards a more systematic registration system under the Wine Standards regime.

How to read clone information

Clone codes usually refer to the selection number assigned by the original breeding institute. For example, Pinot Noir 115 is the 115th selection in the Entav-Inra catalogue in France, while Chardonnay 76 is the 76th Champagne clone. The numbers are not very meaningful without the catalogue, but producers who care will list the clones on their technical sheets. A typical English specification might read: "Chardonnay, 60% clone 76, 30% clone 95, 10% clone 96, on rootstock 3309C".

The trade-off is between consistency and diversity. Planting a single clone gives uniform ripening and easier management, but the vineyard is more vulnerable to disease or weather events that target that particular clone. Most UK producers plant a mix, often 3 to 5 clones per variety, to spread risk and to add complexity to the eventual wine.

Clonal selection and the future

Clonal selection is an active area of research in the UK. Plumpton College, NIAB and several private nurseries run trial plots of new material. The trend is towards clones that ripen reliably in a cool climate, that resist downy and powdery mildew, and that produce wines with the character of a specific site rather than a generic variety. As the UK industry matures, clonal selection is likely to become an even more important part of the conversation about quality and identity.