2018 Frediani Charbono

Black licorice, mint and tobacco on the nose, full rich palate with plentiful plum and cassis fruit, supple tannins and a persistent finish. JO (4/20)

Charbono has been grown in California since at least the 1940s. In France, it is known as corbeau (crow) in reference to the dark color of the grape. This wine comes from a vineyard near Calistoga owned and farmed by the Frediani family. After aging in american oak, this 100% charbono has plentiful color, supple tannins and briary fruit. It will evolve over the next seven to eight years.

Charbono has a long history in the north of Napa Valley, where it was planted with (and sold as) barbera. Also known as bonarda in Argentina and corbeau in France, the official name of the grape is douce noir. Its origins are the Savoie Region of France. Charbono ripens late (at, or after cabernet sauvignon) and has supple tannins and thick skins. There are only a few acres remaining in California, mostly clustered just south of Calistoga. Since the 1970s, Jim Frediani (pronounced with a hard “a”) has been farming his family’s vineyard that spans the Silverado Trail. The oldest block on the ranch dates to the mid-1930s, with 40 and 20-year-old vines supplying most of the fruit for this wine.

Rainfall: 23.6 inches (below normal)
Bloom: Late May
Weather: Warm days and cool nights

Harvest Dates: 25 October
Grapes: Average Brix 23.9˚
TA: 6.20 g/L
pH: 3.70
Fermentation: Natural primary and secondary; twice-daily pump-overs; pressed at eight days
Barrels: 100% air-dried American oak barrels (100% five years-old).
Aging: Ten months in barrel

Hand-harvested, sustainably grown grapes; destemmed and crushed; fermented on the native yeasts, followed by a full malolactic on the naturally occurring bacteria; 0.75 g/L tartaric acid; oak from barrel aging; minimum effective sulfur for this wine (35 ppm at crush, 110 ppm over the course of aging); pad filtered at bottling. In keeping with our philosophy of minimal intervention, this is the sum of our actions.

Average Rating: 90.2

No. of Tasting Notes: 10

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