Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/711666
SPECIAL REPORT SPECIAL REPORT SPECIAL REPORT SPECIAL REPORT 100 { THE SOMM JOURNAL } AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2016 The first thing to understand about what we call Wente Chardonnay is that it can mean one of basically two things: 1) "Old Wente" selections, and 2) single Wente clones, such as U.C. Davis's FPS 04, 05 and 17. Old Wente refers to plantings consisting of mixed material with origins in the Wente family's original 1912 plantings—Old World– style massal selections, if you will. "There really is no such thing as a 'Wente clone,'" said Karl D. Wente, who started off our Wente Clone panel discussion at the 2016 Chardonnay Symposium in Central California's stunning Avila Beach. "There really are just Wente selections—an amaz - ing range of them." Karl D. Wente is a fifth-generation family member of Wente Vineyards and the Chief Operations Officer and Chief Winemaker for California's oldest continuously operating family-owned winery—originally founded by Carl Wente in 1883 and 100% owned and operated by his descendants ever since. It is the Wente family that first imported the collection of Chardonnay cuttings from the grapevine nursery at the University of Montpellier in 1912 that accounts for approximately 75% of the Chardonnay clonal material in California vineyards today. With over 100,000 bearing acres, Chardonnay is the most widely planted wine grape in the state (Cabernet Sauvignon is second, with about 80,000 acres). Why Wente selections and not, say, Dijon clones (cultivars developed for ideal quali - ties in France), which are also widespread in West Coast vineyards, or Chardonnay selections like Mount Eden, first planted in California by Paul Masson in 1898? Wente made a case for three factors that have distinguished Wente selections for over 100 years: 1. Vine health: While not every cultivar falling under the "Wente" banner checks in with a perfect bill of health ("Old Wente" selections are notorious for leafroll virus, which can significantly reduce yields and fruit maturation), in the early 1960s U.C. Davis was able to isolate several selections that were heat-treated to resist viruses, thus making it possible for the industry to dramatically expand Chardonnay produc - tion during the 1980s and thereafter. 2. Sensory diversity: Quoting Wente, "We are still able to walk through our Heritage Block in Livermore Valley and flag individual vines, each exhibiting one of sev - eral characteristics that we like—musqué flavors, tropical flavors, citrus, green apple, stone fruit or a more pervasive minerality . . . yet all from the genetic material that has literally never left home since 1912." 3. Variant cluster morphology: Wente adds, "As we walk through our vineyards, we also find a range of cluster sizes—the lowest-yielding ones typified by 'hens- and-chicks' morphology, having smaller berries that give us more intense flavors, whereas other vines give us larger clusters with more consistent sized berries. It is an advantage to be able to produce distinctive, high-quality Chardonnay at four or even six tons per acre from the larger clustered vines, as opposed to the two tons or less that we get from smaller cluster selections." Historical Adaptation to California Cameron Frey, the Vice President of Winemaking for Ramey Wine Cellars since The Wente Clone Panel THE WENTE "SELECTIONS" ARE WIDESPREAD ACROSS WEST COAST VINEYARDS, FOR A REASON by Randy Caparoso / photos by Jeremy Ball The 2016 Chardonnay Symposium Wente Clone Panel: (left to right) Greg La Follette, La Follette Wines and Alquimista Cellars; Cameron Frey, Ramey Wine Cellars; Mike Hendry, Hendry Ranch Wines; Karl D. Wente, Wente Vineyards; Moderator Randy Caparoso, The Somm Journal's Editor-at-Large; Christopher Hyde, Hyde Vineyards and HdV Wines; and Jonathan Nagy; Byron Winery and Nielson by Byron.