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I’m a big fan of clone 214. It seems to be the top clone favoured by many of the most elite producers.

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Absolutely, Allison. We are very excited to be able to work with it finally here in Livermore. The Ghielmetti Vineyard Cab Franc that you so beautifully described in one of your videos recently, is a Bordeaux Clone - 331 - and (in my mind) shows a very elegant, 5 out 10 on the richness scale of Cab Franc. I'm hopeful, though, we won't know for another 14-16 months how 214 grown in the Livermore Valley expresses itself. The one thing I do know - even before our first wine is made - is that the more clonal expressions of Cab Franc we have here in Livermore Valley, the better and more complex the wines will be. We are the explorer leaving the comfort of the home port, braving the unforgiving sea, to discover the riches that wait to be named at that moment that we make from them something delicious and compelling.

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Oh, I thought the Ghielmetti clone was 332. That’s what the soil map you sent me showed. Either way, I agree that clone/wine was extremely elegant and had a really nice aromatic profile. I look forward to following along to see how the 214 from this new site expresses itself. But I agree, I think the whole is greater than the sum of its parts in this case. More clones, more complexity!

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Allison, you are right. I get my numbers mixed up on occasion. The most planted clone in Livermore at this point is UCD clone 5 or 331. 332, the clone planted at Ghielmetti is less planted.

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Ahhh ok. Cool. With the Livermore grower’s enthusiastic endorsement of Cab Franc as a signature grape, hopefully that will mean more vines going in the ground and a diverse clonal representation to give producers like yourself more tools in your toolbox, so to speak. 😁

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