TN: 1968 Inglenook Charbono. Really Special

[Chris_Seiber]

I had a magnum of 1986 Inglenook Charbono in July of last year, and it was fantastic, one of the most notable wines of the year for me. I think I bought it for $40-50.

Oh man, a well stored magnum must have been crazy-good! Love that Chris! You have any pics by chance?? Would love to see what a maggie looks like.

I looked around but I don’t think I took a photo. Wish I had. Or kept the bottle.

[Patrick_Taylor]

My birth year is 1968. I’ve been reading about how it was not a good vintage worldwide. Glad a great bottle exists.

I was privileged to be a guest at a tasting where several 1968 birth year friends celebrated their 50th birthdays and Mike Grammer’s notes from the tasting can be found at TNs--Mike on Mini-Tour---the "50th party" day, Atlanta---visit with Anthony at PH Wines and 1968 at Randy & Cris' - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers. Napa and Spain are where I would look first for 1968s, the Unico is spectacular if just shy of the greatness of the 1970

Thank you! I’ll be on the lookout.

[Patrick_Taylor]

I had this wine, but probably ~20 years ago. I remember it was wonderful, but my recollection is hazy.

My birth year is 1968. I’ve been reading about how it was not a good vintage worldwide. Glad a great bottle exists.

Patrick,

1968 was a very great year for red wines in the Napa Valley. Obviously they are now

1. thin on the ground, and
2. a risk, regardless of provenance or anything else. Not many 50 year old dry wines can be a safe bet.

But there are still bottles out there and the best can be as wonderful as the bottle Rich just enjoyed.


Dan Kravitz

Thank you, Dan. I am going to start hunting.

[Rich_Brown]

I had a magnum of 1986 Inglenook Charbono in July of last year, and it was fantastic, one of the most notable wines of the year for me. I think I bought it for $40-50.

Oh man, a well stored magnum must have been crazy-good! Love that Chris! You have any pics by chance?? Would love to see what a maggie looks like.

I looked around but I don’t think I took a photo. Wish I had. Or kept the bottle.

No problem buddy! Thanks for looking!

[CF_Binnig]

Very cool! Very happy to see some love for the old Inglenook Charbonos, which can be strangely spectacular.

In the late 90s, we (Frog’s Leap) got a call from a guy named Ken McGill, who until a few years ago owned a 4-acre parcel of old Riesling on Manley lane in Rutherford, right next to the Inglenook property. Some idiot had stiffed him on a contract, and we helped him out of the jam. Took his grapes for our Leapfrogmilch for a couple years, then helped him find a buyer. Years later, my dad gets a call from Ken, asking if he’d be interested in buying some old wines in his cellar (“I don’t drink much anymore, and I don’t want my kids to have them.”) The cellar of old wine turns out to be 10 cases of pristine C. Krug and Inglenook from the 50s and 60s–totally crazy. Mostly Cabs, but also some Krug Pinots and a few bottles of Charbono. At the time that we bought the wines, neither of us had ever heard of the grape before.

The 1964 Inglenook Charbono from that cellar is a life-changing wine for me–it inspired me to start making Charbono on my own, and it inspired us to plant 1.5 acres of Charbono in Rutherford. My memories are of a very intense, fresh, complex wine that was almost weightless–it blew my mind viz. what was possible in Napa. I’m not sure whether it’s possible to replicate whatever made these old Charbonos so good, but it’s still fun for me to contemplate how the boundaries of great wine are often bigger than I realize.

Very happy to see that you were blessed with a good bottle!

That is one terrific story. If my memory is not completely shot, I believe the guy who was an assistant winemaker for John Daniel at Inglenook continued to produce a Charbono for a number of years under a different label after John sold Inglenook. Charbono was this guy’s favorite grape.

Maybe John Richburg who started Bayview Cellars decades ago?

Yep, that’s the one!

[Drew_Goin]

Thanks to the Wayback Machine from the Internet Archives, I was able to access this 2019 article on Napa Charbono…


SF Chronicle (archived)
“The Fight to Keep Alive Charbono, Napa’s Nearly Extinct Heritage Grape”
by Esther Mobley
June 26, 2019
"…For decades, Inglenook alone kept most of Calistoga’s Charbono vineyards in business. The Heitzes, who had been supplying Inglenook with Charbono since Prohibition, ripped out all their other grapes in favor of Charbono in 1987 at Inglenook’s request. That same year, expecting a steady customer in Inglenook, Tofanelli planted Charbono for the first time in his family’s 90-year-old vineyard. But by 1996, with Inglenook out of the Charbono game, both farmers were scrambling to find buyers for their crop.

“Eventually they both started making the wine themselves, and the Tofanelli and Shypoke Charbonos are two of the best examples available…”.

I love rediscovering Berserkers’ tasting notes of important older bottles!

I couldn’t find a better thread to post this information on the role of Charbono in California wine history, so…here we are!


Hogshead
“Charbono: From the ‘Vinous’ 1883 H. W. Crabb to the ‘Earthy’ 2009 Calder Wine Company”
by Aaron Nix-Gomez
January 16, 2014


"…In 1884 the origins of Charbono were clarified in the Second Annual Report of the Chief Executive Viticultural Officer. It was stated that Charbono, sometimes spelled as Charbonneau, came from Jura together with Trousseau and Poulsard. The leading name was Corbeau and it was imported by Mr. Drummond under the synonym Plant de Montmelian. It was felt to dominate blends so it was not as flexible as Zinfandel and its future probably lay ‘to making of light cheap table clarets.’

"…Charbono continues to appear in viticultural reports for decades. Inglenook has long grown Charbono, Gustave Niebaum reportedly brought root stock over shortly after founding Inglenook Vineyards in 1879. In 1941, A. M. & J. Solari of New Orleans sold a variety of wines selected by Frank Schoonmaker, including the wines of Inglenook.

"…Some 100 years after Inglenook was founded the estate created a Charbono Society. At the first dinner held in December, 1981, it was noted that there were only three other producers: Papagni Vineyards, Parducci Vineyards, and Souverain. After a flight of recent vintages Inglenook reached deep producing bottles back to 1941. The 1941 had ‘both elegance and flavor and a pleasant, almost cedar like, nose.’ The 1959 had ‘a marvelously developed bottle bouquet replete with complexity. Its flavor was clearly evident and it was elegant, aged in a soft, generous, easy-to-drink style that was a light.’

“I recently found myself down in McLean, Virginia so I stopped by Chain Bridge Cellars where I happened to spy the 2009 Calder Wine Company Charbono. At $30 per bottle I was exceeding my typical purchase price but I rarely come across bottles of Charbono. Summers Estate Wines reports there are 80 acres planted in California. I was fortunate to taste the 2009 Summers Estate Wines Charbono last year which I found full of ‘old-school flavors.’ The bottle from Calder drank best on the second night. It was an incredibly approachable wine being billowy, meaty, and earthy. I did wish it had a bit more verve but the flavors were so different I kept thinking of 19th Century California…”



The following article provides a snapshot of Charbono’s status in the early 2000s: vineyard acreage & growers, producers of varietal wines, etc.


Wine Business Monthly
“Charbono: A Grape Struggles to Avoid Extinction”
by Patricia Savoie
May, 2003


"…The last annual dinner of The Charbono Society took place on April 1, 1989 at the Inglenook Winery in Napa Valley. One hundred aficionados in black tie worked their way through a seven- course meal and drank their way through cases of Inglenook Charbono from 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1983 and 1984. Perhaps they suspected that the society was near its end; perhaps not. The society had been held together by the dedication of Inglenook winemakers and of others like John Parducci, who also made a Charbono for several years. After the Inglenook winery, vineyards and name were sold, the 35 acres of Charbono that it owned or contracted from slowly shrank as more popular varieties were planted to satisfy evolving American tastes and trends.

“To say that a single winery is responsible for a grape and wine might seem presumptuous. But in the case of Inglenook, the winery had an influence on a large number of the current Charbono makers and was responsible for the survival of many of the current vineyards. It also created an avid, dedicated group of Charbono connoisseurs, all who have their favorite Inglenook Charbono story. Scratch a Charbono lover and you will most likely find an Inglenook experience.…”.


According to the Wine Business Monthly article, there were only 65 producing acres of Charbono in the US around 2003.

One interesting fact: Wines from the Frediani family’s ancient Charbono vines were made by Paul Smith and Mary Sue Frediani’s OnThEdge Winery. Mary Sue’s mother Jeanne Frediani was convinced to sell them some fruit.


Mud City Weekly from Calistoga Tribune
“Heitz Family’s Dedication in Telling World About Charbono”
(PDF download)
by Tony Poer
August, 2014