Grapevine clones - why one variety has many faces
You take two wines from the same grape, say two Pinot Noir bottles from neighbouring vineyards, and discover they taste completely different. It is easy to blame terroir or the winemaker, but there is another, little-known reason: the clone. A single grape variety is in reality a whole family of genetic variants that have drifted apart over centuries in small but real details. One clone gives bigger bunches and a higher yield, another smaller berries and deeper colour, yet another a more intense aroma. Winemakers deliberately choose clones, and sometimes blend several within one vineyard. This is one of the most fascinating and least described parts of how wine is made. Here is what a grapevine clone really means, where it comes from and how it changes what you feel in the glass.
What a grapevine clone is
A grapevine clone is a genetic copy of one specific plant, propagated vegetatively, that is from cuttings rather than from seeds. Grapevines are almost never grown from pips for production, because every pip would give a plant with random traits. Instead, a fragment of a chosen vine is taken and rooted, so the new plant is genetically identical to its parent. When someone spots a single vine in a vineyard with desirable traits, for example unusually aromatic or healthy, it can be multiplied into hundreds of thousands of copies. That is how a clone is born: a family of plants descended from one selected individual. Understanding that a clone is a faithful copy of a particular vine is the starting point for everything else.
Clone versus variety
A variety, such as Pinot Noir or Chardonnay, is a broad genetic category covering all plants descended from the same lineage. A clone is a narrower unit within the variety: a specific variant with slightly different traits. All Pinot Noir clones are still Pinot Noir, but they differ in details, just as siblings share parents yet are not identical. The differences between clones usually concern bunch size, skin thickness, productivity or aromatic profile, not the identity of the variety. That is why the label normally shows just the variety, while the clone stays a technical detail known to the winemaker. This distinction, variety as a family and clone as one of its members, organises the whole topic.
Where clones come from
Clones arise from somatic mutations, that is tiny, spontaneous changes in the DNA of a single shoot or vine. The grapevine is a perennial plant, grown in the same place for decades, and during each season its cells divide millions of times. With that many divisions, random copying errors appear, and sometimes they produce a stable, heritable change in a trait, for example berry colour or bunch size. If such a mutation proves beneficial, it can be fixed through vegetative propagation, and a new clone is born. That is why old, long-cultivated varieties like Pinot have hundreds of them, while young varieties have far fewer. Clones are a record of the slow, natural evolution of the vine in human hands.
Clonal versus massal selection
There are two philosophies for planting a vineyard. Clonal selection means planting one or a few certified, uniform clones, which gives repeatability, health and a predictable yield. Massal selection, in French sélection massale, means taking cuttings from many different old vines in a prized vineyard, which preserves its natural genetic diversity. Advocates of massal selection argue that such a mosaic of clones gives a more complex wine, because different vines ripen and react to weather slightly differently. Advocates of clonal selection value control, clean plant material and disease resistance. Many modern winemakers combine both. The choice between uniformity and diversity is one of the quiet, important decisions made in the vineyard.
Dijon clones - the Pinot Noir example
The best-known example is the so-called Dijon clones, a family of certified selections developed in France and spread around the world. Among them, numbers 113, 115, 667 and 777 have become a reference point for Pinot Noir producers in Oregon and California. Each has its own character: clone 777 is valued for structure and ageing potential, clone 667 for elegant aromatics and refined tannins, and 115 for completeness and balance. A winemaker planting several Dijon clones side by side gains a palette of components for later blending. This shows how a specific, numbered variant of one variety can genuinely shape the style of a wine, even though the label only reads Pinot Noir.
How a clone changes the wine
The influence of a clone is real, if subtle, and runs along several axes. Clones differ in berry size, and smaller berries mean a greater share of skin relative to pulp, that is more colour, tannin and aroma. They differ in productivity: a heavy-cropping clone gives more wine but often less concentrated, while a low-yield clone gives less but denser. They also differ in aromatic profile, from more fruity to more herbal or spicy. Finally they differ in ripening speed and disease resistance, which affects when and in what state the grapes reach the vat. The sum of these small differences can noticeably shift the style of the finished wine.
Clones beyond Pinot Noir
Although Pinot Noir is the flagship example, clones matter for many varieties. Sangiovese, the soul of Italian Tuscany, has numerous clones, and the choice between them was one of the keys to the quality revolution in Chianti and Brunello. Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah also exist in many variants of differing productivity and character. Sometimes a clone even fixes a distinct visual trait, like the pink or grey mutations known from the Pinot family. The older and more widely grown a variety is, the richer its set of clones, because it has had more time and places to fix mutations. Clonal diversity is a quiet resource used by the whole wine world.
Clone versus rootstock - two different things
It is easy to confuse a clone with a rootstock, yet they are two entirely separate things. A clone concerns the noble variety, that is the part of the vine that bears wine grapes. A rootstock is an American root system onto which the noble variety is grafted, to protect it from phylloxera and adapt it to the soil. In other words, the clone decides what the upper, fruiting part of the plant is, and the rootstock decides what root it grows on. Both decisions are made when the vineyard is established, and both affect the wine, but by different routes: the clone directly through the genes of the fruit, the rootstock indirectly through vigour and water management. Separating these concepts lets you think about the vineyard precisely.
Why a winemaker blends clones
Many winemakers deliberately plant several clones of the same variety in one vineyard. The reason is similar to why a cook uses several spices: each clone contributes a different element, and their combination gives a fuller wine than any single variant. One clone may give colour and structure, another aroma, a third acidity and freshness. Such a mosaic also acts as insurance, because different clones react differently to a difficult vintage, so the risk of a failed season is spread more widely. After harvest the winemaker can ferment the clones separately and compose a final blend from them, or plant them together and pick simultaneously. This is one of the most subtle techniques for building complexity in wine.
Clone versus terroir - which matters more
The natural question is what shapes wine more: the clone or the place. The answer is that terroir, that is soil, climate and exposure, usually plays the leading role, while the clone adds a layer of nuance within those bounds. The same clone planted on limestone and on granite will give different wines, because the soil and climate speak first. But at the same terroir, the choice of clone can shift the style toward more fruit, structure or aroma. It is best to think of it in layers: terroir sets the character of the region, the clone fine-tunes the details, and the winemaker ties it together with decisions in the cellar. None of these factors acts alone; only together do they create the wine in your glass. You can read more about the role of place in the post on what terroir means.
What it means for the drinker
For someone drinking wine, clones are above all an explanation of why two bottles of the same variety can differ so much. You do not need to know clone numbers to appreciate the effect: it is enough to know that behind a variety name hides a whole family of variants the winemaker deliberately selects. It is also an invitation not to treat a variety as a guarantee of one taste, but as a starting point. If you are curious where differences in wine structure come from, it is worth reaching for the post on where tannins come from, and if you want to compare wines deliberately, record your impressions in the app, because your own notes are the fastest way to learn to catch these subtle differences. The clone is proof that even a single variety is not a monolith but a living, varied family.
The key points
A grapevine clone is a genetic copy of a particular vine, propagated from cuttings, and clones of the same variety differ in bunch size, productivity, colour and aroma. They arise from small, spontaneous mutations fixed over centuries of cultivation, which is why old varieties like Pinot Noir have hundreds of them. The winemaker chooses clones deliberately, and often blends several to build complexity and spread risk. A clone should not be confused with a rootstock, which concerns the root, not the fruit. In the hierarchy of influences, terroir usually weighs most, while the clone fine-tunes details within those bounds. For the drinker, it explains why the same variety can have such different faces.