Our Wines
At Fiftyrow we focus on single vineyard wines from the Napa Valley and the surrounding area. We search out the best vineyards that are sustainably grown and combine that with a great winemaking team to bring you high quality, handcrafted, small production wine.

2021 Charbono
Wheelhouse Vineyard, Suisun Valley

Rich Layers of Black Fruits, Cocoa, and Graphite

The 2021 Charbono has aromas of black fruits, cocoa, and currants and graphite. On the Palate, it starts off super bright, but with a little time in your glass, quickly becomes a dark and full-bodied wine with rich layers of dark fruits, cocoa, graphite, and a natural acidity that ends in a long finish with super fine tannins. It is a mouthful of wine without the big tannins, is beautifully balanced, and can be paired with a wide variety of food.

About
FIFTYROW Vineyard | Napa Valley, California

Formed in 2002 by business executive Paul Johnson and his partner, legendary 100pt. Napa winemaker Gary Galleron (formerly of Vineyard 29, Grace Family, Whitehall Lane, Chateau Montelena, Hartwell, Del Dotto and Seavey), Paul and Gary have built the brand to an under the radar favorite in homes and restaurants from New York to Los Angeles.

From the beginning, Paul had told Gary “do not make the wine, teach me to make the wine”. Then, after years of on-the-job training, Paul and Gary switched roles in 2011 with Paul taking the lead as winemaker. Gary is now in semi-retirement and Paul has brought on another Gary Galleron protégé, young winemaker and up and coming star Jake Stuessy, to work together with him. Jake makes wine for several other wineries and has achieved dozens of 90 pt. wines. They have proven to be a great team, but they still reach out to Gary for his decades of wisdom.

Here at Fiftyrow, we live and work in the land of cult wines. The land of $100 to $1000 cabernets. The land of wines that the average person cannot get their hands on. The land of 100-point winemakers. With that being said, it would be crazy to say we make the best wine in the Napa Valley. When we set sail on this journey back in 2002, our goal was to make the great wines for a price that would be available to a broad audience.

We focus on single vineyard wines from the Napa Valley and the surrounding area. Our goal is to deliver you a wine you expect out of Napa without three digits in the price. We search out the best vineyards that are sustainably grown and combine that with a great winemaking team to bring you top quality wines. Whether it is our single vineyard Rutherford Cabernet that just received 96 pts., or our single vineyard Rosé from 55-year-old vines, you will get a high quality, handcrafted, small production wine that competes with our more famous neighbors.

Brian Babcock’s Wheelhouse Vineyard is in the Suisun Valley, a stone’s throw from the eastern edge of the Napa Valley, where the hot days lead to cool nights. This is perfect for a varietal like Charbono. Once the most grown varietal in Napa, it is now cultivated in minuscule quantities in Calistoga and just outside the
Napa Valley by growers like the Babcock’s. Starting with hand sorting and punch downs, we did 50% whole cluster fermentation before aging in French barrels for 12 months.

Tasting Notes
The 2021 Charbono is a mouthful of wine without the big tannins. Aromas of black fruits, cocoa, and currants and graphite followed by rich layers of dark fruits, cocoa, graphite, and a natural acidity that ends in a long finish with super fine tannins. It starts off super bright, but with a little time in your glass, quickly becomes a dark and full-bodied wine. Beautifully balanced, it can be paired with a wide variety of food.

FIFTYROW
Varietal: 100% Charbono
Appellation: 100% Suisun Valley, Wheelhouse Vineyard
Alcohol Content:12.9%
Barrel Description: 100% French Barrels, 20% New
Cellar Potential: 10-12 years