Revisiting Charbono

I was inspired to write this by an ad that I saw yesterday. It appeared on social media because Google knows everything I do and they sell everything I do and since it would take so much work to even begin to eliminate this, I just live with it and try to laugh. In any event, what popped up in front of me was an ad for a rare grape -- Charbono -- from a not rare wine company. 

I don't know about your area, but around here, this might currently be the single most overstocked winery, if you can call it that, that there is. Every wine list has it and, in fact, many are peppered with. Not just one or two labels, but often five or six.

In any event, they are now producing a "Limited Edition" bottling of Charbono. For those unfamiliar, Charbono, despite its Italian-sounding name is not originally an Italian grape. The fine scientists at UC Davis have determined that it is actually Corbeau, a grape indigenous to the area of Savoie in southeastern France in the Alps. Strangely, if you cross the border into Italy in the Piemonte region, the name changes, but remains French in nature as the Italians generally call it Douce Noir. When we first drank this varietal more than a year ago, we went to the Mendoza region of Argentina where they call it Boaards, and in Napa Valley -- the origin of the ad in question -- they call it Charbono.

So, I was curious, and this probably means the ad was effective, so I clicked on it (yes, call me stupid). I learned that this was certainly not an unknown producer and that they were charging $60 per bottle for this wine. I wasn't going to buy any, but I was curious, so I looked for some other Napa Valley Charbono producers and truth be told, there are not many of them (more on that later), but even most of the higher end ones are available for less than $30 per bottle. So, this producer was using some clever advertising to jack up the price.

Charbono used to be a really common grape in Napa Valley. In fact, it was one of the flagship grapes of Inglenook before Francis Ford Coppola bought the winery in the late 90s and ordered the Charbono torn up and Cabernet planted. 

And such has been the fate of this grape. Particularly, as the world, particularly those who live in the US, has gravitated towards bigger and bolder wines, when a grape grows well in many of the same conditions as Cabernet does, Cabernet wins out. More people want it and it fetches more money. Today, there are barely more than 50 acres planted to the grape in California while some single wineries plant 50 acres of Cabernet. 

So, yes, this is a rare grape. It's also clever advertising. But, if you want a grape with a deep purple color (much like Petit Sirah/Durif) that is medium-bodied and generally relatively low in alcohol content, this may be a great grape for you. But, $60 is a lot of money for something that I could call Bonarda and buy for $10 or so.

Make your own decision.