Clear deep purple in color. Enjoyed this more on second day, which is odd for a 12 yr old wine. Lots of spice and fruit still on nose & palate. Sorry it is my last bottle.
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Seriously big bouquet, super expressive, intense perfume. Floral and woody. Not a cabernet heavyweight. In its place is tangy bright acidity, some Pinot spiciness and long finish. Awesome stuff and unusual for sure. With so little of this varietal left in the world we’re fortunate that Bob Foley keeps it alive
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See prior notes. Still dark purple in colour, but nose and fruit starting to disappear. Lots of sediment in bottle. I think this wine is on its way down. I think I enjoyed this wine more when it was younger. The flavours it has as it has gotten older do not make it better. Drink now.
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Very pure aromas and flavors of fresh cherry and cherry compote. This was a bottle overlooked in the cellar well past its drink-by date, but it was still in great shape, evolved, but not "old." A pleasant surprise.
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Purchased directly from the winery and stored at 45 degrees for most of its life. Well past it's prime drinking window but still drinkable and enjoyable. Drink up people, this isn't going to get any better!
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Clear deep purple in color. Clean nose of cassis and black licorice. Dry, med+ body, nice acidity, smooth tannin, lots of black fruit on palate, but also some licorice, dark chocolate, and spice. Nice long finish. I liked earlier notes comparison to a cross between cab and zin.i do not know allot about the Charbono grape, but love the wine it makes.
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The greatness of this Heitz Vyd. Charbono shows through despite the late-picked character to the fruit. I don't know why someone would aim to make a superficial wine from a vineyard of such pedigree. Wood is prominent with cedar and redwood, deep blackberry jam with a touch of cherry, good mineral, smoky/dusky, a touch of raisin on the finish. Enjoyable and disappointing at the same time.
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Very first Charbono, so I don't know how this tasted compared to other Charbonos. I kept thinking this tastes like a cross or blend of Zinfandel and Cabernet, it has the fruitiness of a Zin but has a heavy mouthfeel that is reminiscent of a Cabernet. I will definitely seek out more Charbonos.
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Clear dark ruby in colour. Clean nose of black fruit, licorice, and some floral. Dry, med acidity, med body, very smooth tannins, cassis, licorice, and dark chocolate on palate. Nice finish. Love this wine.
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Deep dark ruby in the glass. Clear miniscus. A fruit forward nose of blueberry that belies what you are about to taste. This is a big wine. Intense cassis and mocha jump out initially. Follow up layers of blueberry, blackberry. Nice long finish. Tannins are relaxed, nice balanced acidity.
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Very dark, almost PS black. Ripe and fruity up front but not over the top. Nice balance between the oak, tar, blueberry/blackberry, and still firm tannins. Very smooth, vanilla and cocoa, low acidity, slight and I mean very slight vegetal tone on the finish. All came together very nicely. This was my first Charbono and I really enjoyed it. Thought it went well with our Osso Bucco. Some residue at the end of the bottle. Should have decanted.
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Nose: (Decanted 1 hour) tuscan kale, blackberry, billberry, raspberry, coffee, dark chocolate, liquorice (tertiary), coal furnace, rose petals, leather, fig. Palate: smooth, concentrated billberry, anise-bitter touch on the finish, forthright juicy acidity. Thoughts: Reminiscent of a Cote-Rotie crossed w/ elements of a Dolcetto. One of the most ‘fun’ wines I’ve had in a while. Unpretentious, defiant, rebellious, and rowdy. One of California's unique and rare wine personalities. Androgenous Wine: Sweet Elements- Rugged Elements- Rose Petals (floral) Tuscan Kale (vegetal, bitter) Bilberry (reduced) Coal Furnace (carbon mineral) Coffee/Caramel (toasted oak) Liquorice/Anise (bitter, heat spice)
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Big slutty wine with a good dose of oak influences. Color is deep, dark purple...almost black. Nose is boysenberry, licorice, and vanilla. Taste is ripe fruits but still supple blueberry, coca, and a bit of coffee. It is really nicely balanced until the end (long finish) where your palate is left with some pretty persistent tannins drying your mouth and begging for more. Reminds me of a really well made petite sirah. I'm craving some high-coca count chocolate with this.
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A big powerful wine. We don't have a lot of experience with Charbono, but this wine has been well crafted and is likely typical of this varietal. Very ripe intense fruit, almost brooding, with dark black current, plum, and coffee notes and a bit on the high side in alcohol. A great wine to share with friends as a bottle between two people might seem exhausting. But a great value, and will spark interest to try more from this producer and this varietal.
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Opened and poured. This was more appealing straight from the bottle than from the decanter. Visually this pours a dark purple, almost fully opaque in the glass, accompanied by a thin pink rim. The nose is very interesting, offering up honey, maple, milk chocolate, new leather, orange peel and even a slight hint of dill. On the palate, this is wine is more difficult to classify. It offers a good bit of watermelon, strawberry, currant and smoke. The mouthfeel is very silky and delicate, with a slightly dry finish. A hint of smoked meat lingers on the palate with the finish...
I've had very few Foley wines, and I can appreciate the quality craftmanship that went into this very unique offering. On some level, it serves to demonstrate the artistry that is winemaking by using a grape that is often reserved only for blending.
This wine was opened for pairing with dinner, but turned out harmonizing very well with some dark chocolate infused with orange peel. Overall, I found this wine to be showing very strong right now, as opposed to 1 year ago when I first tried it (at the time, it seemed very closed and neutral). Definitely worth opening now, seems to be going strong.
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My first experience with the Charbono grape. Inky purple in color. Blueberry and licorice on the nose, adding a hint of cedar and white pepper on the palate. I really enjoyed this wine, which I feared might come across as hot and a fruit bomb. It was neither. Certainly the fruit was very prominent, but it was a good food pairing with pasta served with a puttanesca sauce and wilted Malabar Spinach. Reminded me a lot of a Zinfandel, but without the all too common heat that makes Zin a difficult food match for me. I passed on the '07 Charbono, and am now regretting it. May have to reconsider that decision.
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We had our second bottle with lamb steaks on 3/23/09. It decanted an hour and a half and had a wonderful bouquet of blueberry, black cherry, licorice, vanilla and spice aromas. The palate followed exactly. The tannins were better integrated and it was sourer on the finish than the first time. It was excellent.
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This was better and more interesting than I expected. It had the plush chocolate notes that I expected, but also surprisingly juicy and pure boysenberry and blueberry fruit. Good, persistent finish. There's lots of fruit-sweetness in the flavor profile (not sugar-sweetness). There's a growing prejudice against this style of wine, but I don't share it. This is the kind of hedonistic pleasure I refuse to feel guilty about. Delicious. I appreciate how this charbono is clearly NOT a just value-priced afterthought in the Robert Foley portfolio; it's made to the same standards as all the others. Worth seeking out!
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WIML90. No tasting note. Purchased by the glass from a wine bar. Huge blueberry mocha milkshake nose that slams hard on the palate. Well made wine in a style I don't like.
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(from last week) Much, much better than the 05. Fat and fruity with musky blackberries and boysenberries along with fennel bulb and vanilla bean. Traxx is onto something with his milk nose descriptor, as is Tanzer's comparison to Malbec. Delicious and different and a solid value, too.
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First charbono ever. I will certainly search out charbono in the future based on this bottle of wine, though no score as I don't know what to compare it to. Very interesting nose, I'm guess it's pretty closed at the moment. No fruit at all on the nose, a very dairy feel. I'm calling it a triple cream style cheese, though in no way funky sort of cheese nose. Massive mouth feel, can feel the wine slowly dripping down and around your pallet, almost sludgy. Tannic, though not off balance. Really interesting wine, looking forward to trying this one again.
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First time having charbono and it was a nice wine. Fruit forward. Mostly blackberries and darker fruit. Some tartness but not a high acid wine. Served blind I first thought it was a zinfandel but it wasn't quit as big as a zinfandel. Decent finish. I don't know if aging it will bring more complexity.
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Juicy and fun and a perfect match with some thin crust pizza. I drank this while holding the new Foley mailer, trying to decide whether to buy the next vintage of Charbono. I filled out the order form.
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I had this as part of a Charbono tasting on 8/9/08. It had aromas of cherry, currant, blueberry, pepper, oregano, licorice, and leather. The palate followed with flavors of blueberry, black cherry, currant, vanilla & spice. It had prickly tannins, but was not particularly dry. I really liked this it was good stuff.
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Dark red luscious color. Nose of Dark red fruits and oak. Fortified tannins, notes of leather, cherry, and graphite. Boysenberry finish. Intriguing wine.
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Popped and poured. Wow, I thought that Shypoke Charbono had a nose, this is definitely a product of the vintage where there was so much heat close to harvest. Big nose of jammy black fruits with a distinctive blackberry bramble aromas. Huge on the palate, blackberry, boysenberry, plum. Finishes with strong but smooth tannins. Great balance. Good value.
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12/27/2020 - Birorganic Likes this wine: 88 Points
Still drinkable but not much fruit left. I still like it.
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2/28/2018 - rexmerlot wrote: 90 Points
Clear deep purple in color. Enjoyed this more on second day, which is odd for a 12 yr old wine. Lots of spice and fruit still on nose & palate. Sorry it is my last bottle.
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11/9/2017 - Ecbatana Likes this wine: 93 Points
Seriously big bouquet, super expressive, intense perfume. Floral and woody. Not a cabernet heavyweight. In its place is tangy bright acidity, some Pinot spiciness and long finish. Awesome stuff and unusual for sure. With so little of this varietal left in the world we’re fortunate that Bob Foley keeps it alive
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1/1/2016 - rexmerlot wrote: 89 Points
See prior notes. Still dark purple in colour, but nose and fruit starting to disappear. Lots of sediment in bottle. I think this wine is on its way down. I think I enjoyed this wine more when it was younger. The flavours it has as it has gotten older do not make it better. Drink now.
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12/2/2015 - pgm wrote: 91 Points
Very pure aromas and flavors of fresh cherry and cherry compote. This was a bottle overlooked in the cellar well past its drink-by date, but it was still in great shape, evolved, but not "old." A pleasant surprise.
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6/3/2015 - budman Likes this wine: 92 Points
Loved it!
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10/27/2014 - affordableCollector wrote: 87 Points
dark magenta, in color. blueberry, raspberry, herbs, on the nose. blackberry, spice, oak, on the palate. medium finish.
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5/30/2014 - rexmerlot wrote: 90 Points
Same as prior notes. Not sure this wine gets any more complex with time. Still drinking well for some years to come.
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4/22/2014 - Birorganic Likes this wine: 90 Points
Purchased directly from the winery and stored at 45 degrees for most of its life. Well past it's prime drinking window but still drinkable and enjoyable. Drink up people, this isn't going to get any better!
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3/20/2014 - rexmerlot wrote: 91 Points
Clear deep purple in color. Clean nose of cassis and black licorice. Dry, med+ body, nice acidity, smooth tannin, lots of black fruit on palate, but also some licorice, dark chocolate, and spice. Nice long finish. I liked earlier notes comparison to a cross between cab and zin.i do not know allot about the Charbono grape, but love the wine it makes.
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2/25/2013 - joshabramson Likes this wine: 91 Points
Very dark, inky purple color. Smooth tannins, long and slightly spicy finish. Lots of jammy fruit.
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10/2/2012 - yhn wrote: 90 Points
The greatness of this Heitz Vyd. Charbono shows through despite the late-picked character to the fruit. I don't know why someone would aim to make a superficial wine from a vineyard of such pedigree. Wood is prominent with cedar and redwood, deep blackberry jam with a touch of cherry, good mineral, smoky/dusky, a touch of raisin on the finish. Enjoyable and disappointing at the same time.
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7/8/2012 - Sundesertcactus Likes this wine: 91 Points
Very first Charbono, so I don't know how this tasted compared to other Charbonos. I kept thinking this tastes like a cross or blend of Zinfandel and Cabernet, it has the fruitiness of a Zin but has a heavy mouthfeel that is reminiscent of a Cabernet. I will definitely seek out more Charbonos.
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9/19/2011 - pjhr wrote: 91 Points
Tasty blackberry and blueberry aromas with cassis and spice notes finishing with soft tannins.
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9/14/2011 - Ridgerunner wrote: 90 Points
really love this wine
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9/5/2011 - rexmerlot wrote: 90 Points
Clear dark ruby in colour. Clean nose of black fruit, licorice, and some floral. Dry, med acidity, med body, very smooth tannins, cassis, licorice, and dark chocolate on palate. Nice finish. Love this wine.
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7/3/2011 - DonWinspear wrote: 90 Points
Deep dark ruby in the glass. Clear miniscus. A fruit forward nose of blueberry that belies what you are about to taste. This is a big wine. Intense cassis and mocha jump out initially. Follow up layers of blueberry, blackberry. Nice long finish. Tannins are relaxed, nice balanced acidity.
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12/19/2010 - River Rat wrote: 91 Points
Very dark, almost PS black. Ripe and fruity up front but not over the top. Nice balance between the oak, tar, blueberry/blackberry, and still firm tannins. Very smooth, vanilla and cocoa, low acidity, slight and I mean very slight vegetal tone on the finish. All came together very nicely. This was my first Charbono and I really enjoyed it. Thought it went well with our Osso Bucco. Some residue at the end of the bottle. Should have decanted.
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11/12/2010 - bricks29uvm wrote: 93 Points
Nose: (Decanted 1 hour) tuscan kale, blackberry, billberry, raspberry, coffee, dark chocolate, liquorice (tertiary), coal furnace, rose petals, leather, fig.
Palate: smooth, concentrated billberry, anise-bitter touch on the finish, forthright juicy acidity.
Thoughts: Reminiscent of a Cote-Rotie crossed w/ elements of a Dolcetto. One of the most ‘fun’ wines I’ve had in a while. Unpretentious, defiant, rebellious, and rowdy. One of California's unique and rare wine personalities.
Androgenous Wine:
Sweet Elements- Rugged Elements-
Rose Petals (floral) Tuscan Kale (vegetal, bitter)
Bilberry (reduced) Coal Furnace (carbon mineral)
Coffee/Caramel (toasted oak) Liquorice/Anise (bitter, heat spice)
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6/27/2010 - kaptainreboot Likes this wine: 90 Points
Chocolate, Tar. Was slightly in the bag & regret that as this was the case. Should be higher but going from memory.
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5/9/2010 - Bellissimo Likes this wine: 92 Points
Big slutty wine with a good dose of oak influences. Color is deep, dark purple...almost black. Nose is boysenberry, licorice, and vanilla. Taste is ripe fruits but still supple blueberry, coca, and a bit of coffee. It is really nicely balanced until the end (long finish) where your palate is left with some pretty persistent tannins drying your mouth and begging for more. Reminds me of a really well made petite sirah. I'm craving some high-coca count chocolate with this.
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8/23/2009 - monkeylug wrote: 90 Points
A big powerful wine. We don't have a lot of experience with Charbono, but this wine has been well crafted and is likely typical of this varietal. Very ripe intense fruit, almost brooding, with dark black current, plum, and coffee notes and a bit on the high side in alcohol. A great wine to share with friends as a bottle between two people might seem exhausting. But a great value, and will spark interest to try more from this producer and this varietal.
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8/21/2009 - moben wrote: 88 Points
Served with smoked ribs, mac & cheese alongside Kangarilla Road Shiraz/Viogenier. Paled in comparison. Better with pasta previously.
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8/11/2009 - skinowdrinklater wrote: 92 Points
Opened and poured. This was more appealing straight from the bottle than from the decanter. Visually this pours a dark purple, almost fully opaque in the glass, accompanied by a thin pink rim. The nose is very interesting, offering up honey, maple, milk chocolate, new leather, orange peel and even a slight hint of dill. On the palate, this is wine is more difficult to classify. It offers a good bit of watermelon, strawberry, currant and smoke. The mouthfeel is very silky and delicate, with a slightly dry finish. A hint of smoked meat lingers on the palate with the finish...
I've had very few Foley wines, and I can appreciate the quality craftmanship that went into this very unique offering. On some level, it serves to demonstrate the artistry that is winemaking by using a grape that is often reserved only for blending.
This wine was opened for pairing with dinner, but turned out harmonizing very well with some dark chocolate infused with orange peel. Overall, I found this wine to be showing very strong right now, as opposed to 1 year ago when I first tried it (at the time, it seemed very closed and neutral). Definitely worth opening now, seems to be going strong.
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7/16/2009 - brianngibson wrote: 92 Points
My first experience with the Charbono grape. Inky purple in color. Blueberry and licorice on the nose, adding a hint of cedar and white pepper on the palate. I really enjoyed this wine, which I feared might come across as hot and a fruit bomb. It was neither. Certainly the fruit was very prominent, but it was a good food pairing with pasta served with a puttanesca sauce and wilted Malabar Spinach. Reminded me a lot of a Zinfandel, but without the all too common heat that makes Zin a difficult food match for me. I passed on the '07 Charbono, and am now regretting it. May have to reconsider that decision.
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5/8/2009 - RobertoM wrote: 87 Points
have had better
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3/24/2009 - garambler wrote: 90 Points
We had our second bottle with lamb steaks on 3/23/09. It decanted an hour and a half and had a wonderful bouquet of blueberry, black cherry, licorice, vanilla and spice aromas. The palate followed exactly. The tannins were better integrated and it was sourer on the finish than the first time. It was excellent.
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3/1/2009 - amateurwino wrote: 91 Points
Spicy, big, pleasing, concentrated.
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1/15/2009 - pgm wrote: 92 Points
This was better and more interesting than I expected. It had the plush chocolate notes that I expected, but also surprisingly juicy and pure boysenberry and blueberry fruit. Good, persistent finish. There's lots of fruit-sweetness in the flavor profile (not sugar-sweetness). There's a growing prejudice against this style of wine, but I don't share it. This is the kind of hedonistic pleasure I refuse to feel guilty about. Delicious.
I appreciate how this charbono is clearly NOT a just value-priced afterthought in the Robert Foley portfolio; it's made to the same standards as all the others. Worth seeking out!
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9/28/2008 - wineismylife wrote: 90 Points
WIML90. No tasting note. Purchased by the glass from a wine bar. Huge blueberry mocha milkshake nose that slams hard on the palate. Well made wine in a style I don't like.
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9/23/2008 - silton wrote: 91 Points
(from last week) Much, much better than the 05. Fat and fruity with musky blackberries and boysenberries along with fennel bulb and vanilla bean. Traxx is onto something with his milk nose descriptor, as is Tanzer's comparison to Malbec. Delicious and different and a solid value, too.
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8/31/2008 - Traxx wrote:
First charbono ever. I will certainly search out charbono in the future based on this bottle of wine, though no score as I don't know what to compare it to. Very interesting nose, I'm guess it's pretty closed at the moment. No fruit at all on the nose, a very dairy feel. I'm calling it a triple cream style cheese, though in no way funky sort of cheese nose. Massive mouth feel, can feel the wine slowly dripping down and around your pallet, almost sludgy. Tannic, though not off balance. Really interesting wine, looking forward to trying this one again.
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8/30/2008 - stevetimko wrote:
First time having charbono and it was a nice wine. Fruit forward. Mostly blackberries and darker fruit. Some tartness but not a high acid wine. Served blind I first thought it was a zinfandel but it wasn't quit as big as a zinfandel. Decent finish. I don't know if aging it will bring more complexity.
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8/24/2008 - babnik wrote: 90 Points
Juicy and fun and a perfect match with some thin crust pizza. I drank this while holding the new Foley mailer, trying to decide whether to buy the next vintage of Charbono. I filled out the order form.
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8/12/2008 - garambler wrote: 90 Points
I had this as part of a Charbono tasting on 8/9/08. It had aromas of cherry, currant, blueberry, pepper, oregano, licorice, and leather. The palate followed with flavors of blueberry, black cherry, currant, vanilla & spice. It had prickly tannins, but was not particularly dry. I really liked this it was good stuff.
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6/26/2008 - yovinny wrote: 91 Points
Dark red luscious color. Nose of Dark red fruits and oak. Fortified tannins, notes of leather, cherry, and graphite. Boysenberry finish. Intriguing wine.
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5/3/2008 - hammie1234 wrote: 89 Points
First time ever drinking a Charbono. Tasted like a fruity zin (minus the pepper).
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4/18/2008 - GalvezGuy wrote: 93 Points
Popped and poured. Wow, I thought that Shypoke Charbono had a nose, this is definitely a product of the vintage where there was so much heat close to harvest. Big nose of jammy black fruits with a distinctive blackberry bramble aromas. Huge on the palate, blackberry, boysenberry, plum. Finishes with strong but smooth tannins. Great balance. Good value.
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12/20/2007 - cellarbrator wrote: 92 Points
Much better than the 2005. Nice acidity and deep flavors of creamy milk chocolate, smoke, bell pepper, and lots of jammy fruit.
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