O.K.  First off, what's Charbono?  This is a question that has perplexed wine experts and grape scientists for years.  It seems that California Charbono is the same grape as French Charbonneau, also called Corbeau, Corbeau Noir, and Douce Noir.  It has been grown in the Savoie region of the French Alps for hundreds of years.  In Italy, this same grape, or a grape very similar is grown in the Piedmont region as Dolcetto, although the genetic link between Italian Dolcetto and French Charbonneau has not been definitively proven, as far as I know.  In Argentina, this grape is also grown, and referred to as Bonarda or Bonarda Barbera, which is a terrible misnomer, since the grape is certainly not the same grape as the Italian "Bonarda Piemontese" or the Italian Barbera grape.  Both of these Italian grapes are from Piedmont, and are from similar vineyards as Dolcetto, but they are very different grapes.  The Charbono grape takes on much different characteristics in all these places.  In the mountainous areas of France and Italy where it is grown, it produces medium colored, medium bodied wines with light tannin.  In California, it produces very dark wines with high tannin.  One would naturally expect the grapes to take on much different profiles when grown in the European Alps versus warm dry California!

So why all the confusion and different names, and how did the grape end up in so many places?  Everyone has theories, but mine, which seems logical, is as follows:  It seems the grape was originally indeginous to the Savoie region in the French Alps, near the border with the Italian Piedmont region ("Piemonte"), also mountanous.  People in both regions have been making wine for hundreds of years.  There are about a dozen relatively unknown wine grapes grown in Savoie.  Piedmont is famous for Nebbiolo, Barbera, Dolcetto, Bonarda, and others.  It was inevitable that at some point, people in Piedmont would visit Savoie, taste the wine, and take back some Charbonneau vines if they liked the wine.  They changed the name and spelling of the grape to Charbono to suit their language.  They planted them, I suspect, right along side their existing Barbera and Bonarda vines.  Since the vines and grapes look similar, over the course of many decades, people forgot which vines were which.  In the late 1800's, some of these Italians immigragted to the USA and South America.  The folks who went to South America thought they were taking Bonarda and Barbera vines with them, planted them in Argentina, and continued to call them Barbera and Bonarda, not knowing they were really Charbono.  The Italian immigrants who came to California also brought Charbono, but got the name right.  Back home in Italy, as the years went on and generations passed, someone probably came across some old Charbono vines amogst their Barberas, and realized they were different.  No one kept a log that great Grandad brought over some Charbonneuas from France, and now no one knew what these "other vines" were.  So someone came up with a new name "Dolcetto" (which is Italian for little sweet one).  Only recently, over the last few years, geneticists started testing Argentine Bonarda, Argentine Bonarda Barbera, California Charbono, and French Douce Noir, and low and behold, all the same grape.  But in such different climates, you get very different wines!

The Robert Foley 2004 Charbono from Napa Valley is a very dark purple, almost black color.  The bouquet is similar to Cabernet Sauvignon, but a little spicier, and has a little more leather notes.  The bouquet was of medium-high intensity.  On the palate, it is not an extremely fruity or jammy wine.  It is a regal, albeit more rustic, austere wine, much like an old traditional Barolo.  There is a fair amount of tannin here, but it is not overpowering.  There is also a lot of acidity to this wine, and I think it would pair well with zesty foods, particularly Italian tomato based sauces.  The finish was of moderate length, and pleasant.  I think the wine will be more tame in a year or two.  I thoroughly enjoyed the wine, and it is a nice change from cabernet, merlot, syrah, etc.  I think that those who enjoy old world red wines in the traditional styles will enjoy this Charbono.  Those looking for California fruit bombs should look elsewhere. 

I paid $35 for the wine, purchased directly from Robert Foley Vineyards.

3.5 stars

 

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