In the diverse world of wine, the concept of single-clone Cabernet Sauvignon stands out as a testament to precision and craftsmanship. This approach allows winemakers to highlight the unique characteristics of individual clones, resulting in wines with distinct personalities. While it presents certain challenges, the rewards can be extraordinary, offering a deeper understanding of the vineyard and its potential.
The practice of cultivating a single clone offers several advantages, including uniform ripening and consistent flavor profiles. This consistency allows winemakers to exercise greater control over the final product, ensuring a high-quality wine that truly reflects its origins. However, it also comes with risks, such as vulnerability to pests and weather conditions that could impact the entire crop.
Silverado Vineyards: A Legacy of Excellence
At Silverado Vineyards in Napa Valley, winemaker Alison Rodriguez has embraced the single-clone approach with her wine called Solo. This wine is a single-varietal, single-clone, single-vineyard expression of Cabernet Sauvignon made with the Heritage Disney Silverado Clone. Named for the estate and its previous owners, Lillian Disney and Diane Disney Miller, this clone was one of three identified by researchers at UC Davis for its contribution to the character, texture, and aroma of Napa Cabernet Sauvignon in the late 1980s.
Rodriguez explains that the Heritage Disney Silverado Clone is cherished for its fruit purity and clear expression of bright, red cherry fruit. She emphasizes the value of tasting several vintages of a single clone from a single vineyard, as it provides a deeper, sensory experience of the nuances each vintage brings. For Solo, Rodriguez uses 100 percent French oak barrels with staves aged for three years and medium toast to frame and elevate the pure expression of the fruit.
Quilceda Creek Winery: Pioneering Single-Clone Wines
In Snohomish, Washington, Quilceda Creek Winery has made a name for itself with its three single-clone bottlings of Cabernet Sauvignon. The Palengat Cabernet Sauvignon is made using Clone 685, while the Tchelistcheff Cabernet Sauvignon utilizes Clone 412, both planted in the Mach One Vineyard in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA. The Galitzine Cabernet Sauvignon, on the other hand, is 100 percent Clone 8 cultivated in the Galitzine Vineyard in the Red Mountain AVA.
Paul Golitzin, president and director of winemaking at Quilceda Creek, explains that the Mach One vineyard was first planted to Cabernet Sauvignon in 2009, with Clones 685 and 412 chosen for their virus-free status at the time. Impressed by the consistent, high quality of fruit, the team expanded the vineyard in 2015 to 2017 and again in 2026 to 2026. Golitzin notes that the plantings at Mach One vineyard were experimental, intended to explore how different clones would express themselves within the same site.
Golitzin believes that using single clones allows him and his team to make better wine. By isolating individual clones, they can understand and showcase the distinct character each one brings to Cabernet Sauvignon. This approach enables them to create wines that stand alone, each with its own unique character and profile from the same vineyard. The Quilceda Creek vineyards are also non-grafted and own-rooted, which Golitzin believes enables each clone to express its character more directly.
Chimney Rock: Embracing Clonal Diversity
At Chimney Rock in Napa Valley, general manager and winemaker Elizabeth Vianna has taken a different approach. With vineyards planted to nine different clones of Cabernet Sauvignon, she has the luxury of bottling several iterations of single-clone Cabernet Sauvignon each year. Originally planted to create diversity and complexity in the vineyard, these clones were initially blended into the Estate Cabernet Sauvignon and proprietary red blend called Elevage.
Over time, Vianna and her team started to note different personalities within these clones and found that some produced wines that could stand alone. The Clone 7 planted at Chimney Rock is known as the Concannon Clone, which is quite common in California. It is said to originate from Bordeaux’s Château Margaux cuttings brought to Livermore by Jim Concannon in 1893. Clone 4, meanwhile, has its roots in Mendoza, Argentina. While Clone 7 offers cherry and raspberry flavors with good tannic structure, Clone 4 is noted for more black-toned fruit such as blackberry and black currant and very age-worthy tannic structure.
Vianna explains that making wine from a single clone can be challenging, especially in tough vintages. However, the clonal distinction drove the development of their single-block wines, allowing them to showcase the unique characteristics of each clone. This approach not only highlights the diversity within the vineyard but also offers wine lovers a chance to explore the expressive nature of Cabernet Sauvignon.
