NZ Pinot Noir Descended Directly from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti?

Let's start with a disclaimer - This article is based almost entirely on rumour and insinuation, handed down from various conversations with NZ winemakers over the years and patched together with Google glue. But it's such a bloody good yarn, full of suspense, industrial espionage, All Blacks, drugs, smuggling, death and subterfuge that we felt it was time to tell it....again. This is the story of how NZ's winemaking landscape has become riddled with Pinot Noir descended directly from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. 

Back in the 1970's,  a rugby player (rumoured to be an ex- All Black) trundled off to France to play a few seasons and fell in love with wine (Hard to believe, but just about the only wine available in NZ back in the 1970's was sherry). He particularly enjoyed Pinot Noir, and so smuggled a few cuttings in to his gumboots on the trip back home so that he could start cultivating the vines back in NZ. He was met at the airport by a rather officious customs officer, Malcolm Abel. Mr Abel, a keen viticulturalist himself, spotted the cuttings and confiscated them.

And this is where it gets interesting.

Depending on who you listen to, one of two things happened at this point - Abel 

a) Dutifully sent the cuttings off to NZ's agricultural research centre in Te Kauwhata for quarantine and cultivation OR

b) Took them home and planted them himself. It is rumoured also that Abel also enjoyed cultivating a few other bits and pieces in his backyard that drew the attention of local law enforcement authorities and his home was raided. At this point, the vines were sent to NZ's agricultural research centre by the police.

Abel tragically passed away in the early 1980's*, and his vineyard of Abel vines was eventually ripped up. What we do know, and what is critical in the survival of these pinot noir clones, is that Ata Rangi's founder, Clive Patton, had spent some time with Abel and had taken some cuttings in the early 1980's to cultivate on his own block in Martinborough. The Abel clone is now a core part of Ata Rangi's main Pinot Noir blend, and indeed found on vineyard sites throughout New Zealand. The clone is sometimes referred to as the Ata Rangi Clone (or Gumboot clone).

There has been commentary that the Abel Clone has been genetically traced back to four specific rows of vines at Domaine de la Romanée-Conti.  One winemaker mused recently that when he received his vines from the nursery, they were labelled 'Abel Clone - DRC', much to the French wine industry's delight, I'm sure.

So how can you sample some DRC (ish) Pinot Noir for just $70 or so? Well, you'll probably find the clone is a blend in most NZ Pinot Noirs, but we do know for sure the Escarpment 'Kupe' Pinot Noir is entirely made from Abel stock. The 2009 vintage (19.5/20 in July's Decanter Magazine), is strictly limited in availability and available now.  

*This story has previously incorrectly stated that Malcolm Able had taken his own life. This was not accurate and has subsequently been corrected.