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This Suisun Valley Charbono opens with black fruits, cocoa, currants and graphite. It starts bright, then becomes dark and full-bodied, with rich layers of dark fruit, natural acidity, super-fine tannins and a long finish.
Available in store
Close100% Charbono
Food pairings: Grilled or roasted meats, mushroom pasta, and other savory, moderately rich dishes. The winery notes that it pairs widely without listing specific plates.
Winemaking: The 2021 was hand-sorted, fermented with punch-downs and 50% whole clusters, and aged in French barrels for 12 months, 20% new, under winemaker Paul Johnson.
Vineyards and terroir: Fruit is from Brian Babcock’s Wheelhouse Vineyard in the Suisun Valley, just east of Napa Valley, where hot days and cool nights suit Charbono. The official 2021 tech sheet and the bottle both identify Wheelhouse Vineyard (the bottle reads Suisun Valley / Wheelhouse Vineyard / 2021 Single Vineyard Charbono).
Family and history: Fiftyrow was founded by Paul and Marion Johnson, with early winemaking help from Gary Galleron; the first commercial vintage was 2003. The name nods to Paul’s joke that he would be making wine before age 50. Paul now oversees winemaking for Fiftyrow and the related Smokescreen wines. Charbono (Douce Noir; also known as Bonarda in Argentina) was once widely grown in Napa and is now planted only in small quantities.
