2007 Shypoke Charbono

There were several wines at the pig roast discussed in the post immediately below this one.  None caught the attention of the wine drinkers more than a 2007 Shypoke Napa Valley Charbono.  I drank several bottles of this variety more than twenty years ago, all from Inglenook. Early last winter I saw this Shypoke bottling on a tasting menu at a local wine store.  I was early for the tasting and had other appointments, but they sold me one of the six bottles they had available and I took it home and stored it for this pig event.

Some research on the internet showed me that this is likely the same vineyard that Inglenook used to produce their wine.  That good story can be found here.

So a few details:  there is likely less than 100 acres of this grape in the world and most of it appears to be in the Calistoga area of Napa Valley.  The grape is originally from the Savoie region of France where it goes by the name Douce Noir, translating as soft black. 

This is a very dark wine in the glass and the nose was full of black cherries and black plums.  It was a very fruity wine with those cherries and plums intermingling with a bit of pomegranate.  For such a dark and fruity wine there was good acidity and there was a ton of soft tannin.  The tannin didn't attack the mouth it just gave structure to the wine.  The finish was long and ended with a bit more fruit and just enough of the tannin to refresh the mouth for the next sip.  This wine made everyone happy. 

It was great with un-sauced pork from the pig, but the sweet sauces, the vinegar based sauces and certainly the Jamaican jerk sauce were not its best friends.  Still, it was definitely my favorite wine of the evening and one that made me smile.

2007 Shypoke Napa Valley Charbono.  14.1% alcohol and $30.