Shypoke Charbono

When we first tasted Peter Heitz’s Charbono, we were actually tasting a spectacular lineup of super-concentrated Napa Valley wines from winemaker Bob Foley. Foley’s the guy who pushed Pride Mountain into the Napa Valley 99 point club. But amidst the hugely extracted Foley wines was an absolutely delicious, utterly gulpable red fruit beauty — a wine unlike anything we’d ever tasted from Napa. We did a little research on the mysterious variety and then on the cool, Calistoga vineyard source and noticed that the growers, the Heitz family, made their own Charbono, so we went out looking for the Real McCoy. What we found not only blew us away, it became one of the true cult-wine discoveries in WineAccess’s short history.

Peter and his family farm just seven acres of Charbono — that’s 11% of the world’s plantings! Half goes to Bob Foley, so the entire production of Shypoke Charbono is less than 500 cases.

When we first tasted Peter’s luscious 2005 Shypoke Charbono, we knew we had to write about it. But we wondered, “who is going to buy a Napa Valley wine made from a grape that no one has even heard of?” True to form, we wrote about Peter’s amazing wine and vineyard anyway. The story must have struck a chord because the wine (200 cases) sold out in three hours. Then the reviews started to flood in: over 125 reviewers with an average rating of 4 stars out of 5.

A year later we went out with the slightly more subdued 2006. More wine was sold in less time. Almost 300 cases in just under three hours. Over 150 reviewers rated the 2006 — once more a solid 4 stars out of 5. Most importantly, half of the buyers of the 2006 had bought the 2005. A cult wine had been born.

We’ve been waiting for the release of the 2007 since we tasted it out of barrel two months ago. The ‘05 and ‘06 were delicious, but in 2007 all the stars were aligned. The growing season was long and mild, just what this mountain variety likes. The result? This is both the richest and brightest of the three, a perfect blend between New World flash and Old World sinew. If we had to drink one California wine every night for the next two months (and we didn’t want to refinance the house), the 2007 Shypoke Charbono would likely be it!

Tasting Notes from the WineAccess Travel Log

“(95% Charbono from the mature Calistoga Charbono plantings and 5% Sangiovese) Deep red/purple color. Vibrant, bright, lush aromas of black cherry, pomegranate, flowers and spice. Intense flavors of deep black cherry, plum and red fruit, with a fabulous vibrant finish, perfectly balancing the sweet fruit on entry. Round, supple tannins with fine acid backbone on the finish. Just 500 cases produced.”

What is Charbono?

It was a viticultural guessing game for quite some time. The intense, dark color and rich flavors first had people mistaking Charbono for Barbera. But, Barbera has a hard, acidic edge, while Charbono finishes round and soft. It was then suggested that Charbono might be Dolcetto, but Dolcetto, while bright and lively, lacks the pluminess of this wine. Pinot Noir? Nope. Finally in the 1940s, two geneticists at UC Davis identified the variety. Charbono was derived from a little known grape in the French Savoie, a grape called “Charbonneau.” While we’ve tried to hunt down some Savoie “Charbonneau,” it appears that nothing in this mountainous French appellation ever approached the rich, spicy versions currently coming out of Calistoga.