Char Bono Pro Bono
TASTING NOTES:
Charbono - “The nose opens with ripe berries, pomegranate, and leather aromas filling the glass. Subtle savory & baking spice notes flow through the backend of the nose, revealing punchy raspberry, cedar, and tobacco on the front palate. Everything one might look for in a classic Cab Sauv, with a brighter fruit profile.” (AbV 11.50%, pH 3.55, TA 5.93 g/L)
Carignane - “An intriguingly complex nose at first sniff with loads of blackberry, plum, and green peppercorn. This wine skews from your typical bright and playful Carignane with savory and umami notes leading the charge across the palate, lead blocking for the lush fruit and winter spices on the finish. Quite brooding and dark, this wine wants to be enjoyed in cold weather next to a
warm fire.” (AbV 14.10%, pH 3.58, TA 5.87 g/L)
VARIETALS: 100% Charbono, 100% Carignane.
BARRELS: 16 months in French oak, 20-25% new.
PAIRS WITH: Charcuterie.
THAT REMINDS ME OF: Charbono.
What the heck is a Charbono? Even winegrowers didn’t seem to know in California back in the early 20th century.
Californian producers of the grape up to 1941 labeled their wines Barbera and Pinot Noir until a few UC Davis professors took a closer look, and they were confirmed to at least neither be Barbera nor Pinot Noir. Instead it was Bonarda/Charbono.
Thenceforth labeled Charbono by Inglenook in 1941, the identity/lineage of the grape would have yet another revelation in 1999 when another UC Davis professor connected it genetically to the French grape Douce Noir/Corbeau rather than the Italian Bonarda varieties.
