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Feature Article
The purpliest of grapes, Charbono, is also the Rodney Dangerfield of varietals...
... just trying to get respect.
Charbono:
The Misunderstood Grape Breaks Through…Barely
People always ask me to describe the grape’s characteristics, but that’s a difficult thing to do because it doesn’t have a distinct flavor profile like other grapes. It’s like an old woman who puts perfume in the same spot every day and it kind of sinks into her skin and you get this essence that evokes memories.
~ Sally Ottoson, Pacific Star Winery
by
Alan Goldfarb
January 25, 2008
ally Ottoson, the Mendocino County vintner who is sometimes referred to as the “Queen of Charbono”, was talking about the lowly and much misunderstood red grape, Charbono. Perhaps Ottoson was alluding to that fact that the paltry plantings of the variety in the U.S. nonetheless evince reminiscences of the Old World. And the way wine used to be made.
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