As early ripening clones, the Dijons all are particularly suited for questionable cool-climate areas where other selections might not ripen sufficiently – around Freestone in western Sonoma County, for example. Fruit-forward wines are easier to accomplish with the Dijon Pinot Noir clones.

It’s interesting that we often lump them together in casual conversation, because they really seem to need each other. They do not seem to function as successfully as some stand-alone selections like Martini. So we tend to blend them in winemaking.

Talking to growers in Burgundy, Kenneth was told that they often blend them from the start. Growers there will order a mixture of Dijon clones and essentially plant a field blend. It’s also true that our own selections, like Martini and Swan, actually are not really stand-alones, but rather are de facto field blends because genetic sports or mutations continually occur in the vineyard and, thus, in the budwood selection process.

So, while we tend to keep our Dijon clones separate in blocks, harvest bins and even fermentation tanks, in practice they are used to complement one another.

What are some of their characteristics? Kenneth and I agree – in general, and all things being equal – that 777 is up front in fruit, more structured and tannic and it tends toward the black fruits end of the flavor spectrum. While 115 shows perfume, has good length and tends toward red fruits, 667 is in the middle. It has a good mid-palate, but also pretty good entry and length.

Of course, fruit profiles can shift depending on site and vintage.

Our new Donum Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, from the Nugent Vineyard (which we planted and farm), is predominately 667 blended with some 115. I also grow some 115 on the seven-acre Blue Farm Vineyard around my house in northwestern Carneros, near the Sangiacomo family’s home ranch a few miles south of the Sonoma plaza. It’s warmer there and not as windy as at The Donum Estate. My home site produces a bigger, more tannic wine with 115 than does Donum.

I also think that the presence of more fog and less wind at the Russian River site brings out the lushness in 667. In 2007, Kenneth and I agree that at both Nugent and Blue Farm, the 115 clone moved more toward blueberry aromas and flavors.

All three Dijon clones are very good ones. They present no special farming problems. As always, the overriding factor is an understanding of what works in the unique combination of climate and soil on a particular site. And finally, there are those delightful vintage variations.

The Calera Pinot Noir selection did come around in flavor intensity, and it was worth the wait. It came off yesterday, with sugar in the low 24 degrees Brix (approximate percentage of sugar) range.

We had a little bit of rain yesterday, too minor to do much, a drizzle more like a heavy dew. It may have softened the skins a little, so we’re ready to harvest the Donum block that we were waiting for today. All the Pinot Noir should come off this week, and we’ll probably take in our Chardonnay early next week.

Normally our vineyards ripen and are harvested in order of site. We expect some blocks to be ready earlier. But this year has been quite unusual because the grapes came in grouped by clones and selections. (Clones are budwood from, and so genetically identical to, a single “mother” vine; field selections are taken from a number of vines and have some genetic variation.)

The Dijon clones were earliest. First they came off of the more gravelly soils of the Blue Farm vineyard around my house, in Carneros but closer to Sonoma. Then the 667 and 777 Dijon clones at Ferguson Block were ready, followed by those at Donum, on heavier clay soils. Finally, both the 115 and 667 Dijons came in from Nugent Vineyard in the Russian River Valley.

Now we’re picking the rest of the heirloom selections – Calera, Chalone, Hanzell, Martini, Roederer and Swan. In this moderate, drawn-out season of ripening, the clones have asserted themselves.

Cold nights are here. The light is different. You can tell be looking at the vines – leaves are yellowing and they look spent. Fall is arriving. It’s time

This morning we sampled what we’ve brought in to the winery so far. First we tasted the Dijon 115 Pinot Noir clone from Nugent Vineyard in the Russian River Valley, which we farm. This fruit was harvested last Thursday, September 13, and inoculated yesterday, so it’s like, as Kenneth said, “kid’s juice.” I noticed its nice weight and delicious fruit, and Kenneth thought it had purity and focus, great fruit with good length.

Then we sampled another lot picked the following day. The juice showed typical first-day fermentation aromas of hay as well as fruit tones and seemed deeper, darker and more expansive to me. Kenneth described it as open and opulent.

Next we tasted some lots from Carneros, off of seven acres of vines planted around my house that we call Blue Farm. The first lot was harvested two weeks ago, on September 4, and has almost fermented dry – our first wine of 2007! We remarked that this was a bigger, more complex wine than from previous vintages. Kenneth noted that this Dijon 115 clone had thicker skins than usual and was totally ripe.

Kenneth said it came in at 24.7 degrees Brix (approximate percentage of sugar). There was very little dehydration so, as he said, those are “real numbers,” and the best we’ve ever had there. The wine is beautiful. I think we have great balance this year and we didn’t have to thin or trim very much. Kenneth thinks the drier soils may have played a role; I agree that may have evened things up.

We moved on to a tank holding a Swan selection from Blue Farm, and we thought this was wonderful, very heady and aromatic and full in the mouth.
Next was a Dijon 777 from Blue Farm, which had lagged behind in sugar a bit this year. It was more closed and brooding, but the tannins that characterize this clone really danced on the tongue.

A taste of Dijon 667 from our Donum vineyards showed intense fruit – I found cranberry and Kenneth said raspberry and both of us found a hint of something else, faintly herbal. I really like the 667 clone because it offers interesting combinations of aromas and flavors.

We moved on to taste fruit from Ferguson Block, from a moderately high density planting of Dijon 667 (4A07 block) in which we did thinning trials described in our September 7 post. We harvested on September 11 and our control lot was thinned normally. We found lovely fruit flavors with good concentration.

Next we tried the juice from vines that had been thinned to one-cluster-per-shoot. Our lab results showed this lot was 30% higher than the control in tannins. We found it to be further behind in fermentation and thus higher in sugar and sweeter, but we also found more fruit and a real spicy, black pepper component that persisted on the palate.

The lot that was alternately thinned one and two clusters per shoot (which we call “one-two”) was way behind in fermentation and so sweet that the tannins were masked. It will be interesting to track these lots.

Tomorrow we pick at Nugent Vineyards, Dijon 667 which tastes just wonderful on the vine. This has the makings of an ideal vintage. If it continues in this direction, it could be a benchmark year for demonstrating the potential of all our blocks. That would give us a clear target to aim for. As Kenneth remarked, “It’s all there in the juice.” The juice and nascent wines are wonderfully rich, fruity and concentrated with no apparent hollows or holes.

We parted ways after discussing an interesting cool weather system that is moving into this area from the north and could produce rain twice – possibly Wednesday night and maybe again late Friday. Our canopies are open and the vines are in good shape, so we won’t worry. It never helps to worry, anyway.