red
Charbono Frog's Leap
Williams Rossi Vineyard / Frog's Leap
Vintage & Drinking Window
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Drinking Window
Adjusted for 2026: Early (2026-2029) for tense fruit; Peak (2030-2038) as savory earth integrates; Late (2039-2050+) for magic. Williams asks: 'Will it go 50 years? Yes'.
Let it rest a bit longer
Vintage Notes
The 2024 vintage was, in Rory Williams' own words, 'an auspicious year for the launch of the Charbono'. The season unfolded dramatically but beautifully. It began with heavy, replenishing winter rains that deeply saturated the Rutherford soils, setting a vital foundation for the dry-farmed vines to thrive. The summer brought numerous heat spikes that threatened to accelerate sugars before flavors could develop. However, the lush, natural shade canopy born from the winter rains brilliantly shielded the Charbono clusters through the expansive summer heat. The result was textbook, yielding early phenolic ripeness at remarkably low brix, allowing lushness without brute power. The Williams family declared it 'the best-looking fruit we've seen in our 16 years of working with the variety'. The 2024 showcases exceptional depth of color and natural resilience, making it a highly collectible standout that perfectly marries vintage serendipity with meticulous heritage viticulture.
AI Confidence: 95%
$55.00 - $150.00 USD
Sophie's Take
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Grape Varieties
100% Charbono (historically known in the French Savoie as Corbeau)
Charbono
Style: This is a red wine of radical elegance, an intentional departure from the 'big-bold Napa red hegemony'. Charbono's hallmark is intensity without weightâa welterweight fighter with the stamina of a champion. In the glass, it delivers a deeply saturated hue (fittingly, its Savoyard name 'Corbeau' translates to 'raven'), but dances lightly on the palate. Esther Mobley of the San Francisco Chronicle famously described the 2024 as 'delightful, with a Christmasy set of aromas that recall mulled-wine spices and fresh pine needles'. PEER COMPARISON: Poured blindly alongside modern Napa Cabernet or Zinfandel, the 2024 Frog's Leap Charbono stands completely apart with its distinct Alpine energy, energetic acidity, and minty tension. When compared to Tofanelli Family Charbono or historic 1960s Inglenook bottlings, this concrete-fermented expression is fresher and more purely fruit-transparent. Against Argentine Bonarda (its genetic twin), which typically skews towards soft, early-drinking fruit, this Rutherford iteration is vastly more structured, savory, and cellar-worthy. MARKET INTELLIGENCE: With roughly 130 cases produced and an initial retail of $55, this wine is a dramatic under-the-radar steal. Given that Napa Charbono acreage is virtually extinct, this vintage is a highly allocated insider's secret and a blue-chip collectible for true students of California wine history.
Alcohol: 14.5%
Tasting Notes
Rich and structured palate with balanced tannins, notes of dark fruit, leather, and white pepper
Initial aromas erupt from the glass: an intriguing, deeply Christmasy blend of mulled-wine spices and dried orange peel.
The finish is exceptionally persistent and savory, leaving a lingering, mouthwatering trace of mint and spiced plum.
Mid-palate evolution brings a burst of 'crystal ball red energy', driven by bright, lip-smacking acidity.
The concrete fermentation shines clearly, preserving un-oaked fruit transparency and crystalline, vibrant freshness.
Aromatic profile featuring black cherry, plum, and spice notes with subtle herbaceous undertones characteristic of Charbono
Serving Recommendations
Temperature: 15 C / 59 F - Service should be notably cool, ideally in a Pinot Noir-style glass to capture the ethereal mint and pine needle aromatics.
Decanting: Decant for 30-45 mins. Initially tight, decanting unlocks the signature pine-needle aromatics, softening the subtle, tea-like tannins and allowing the bright plum fruit to fully emerge.
Food Pairing:
Grilled lamb chops
Duck breast
Aged cheeses
AVOID: Butter-poached Maine lobster with vanilla beurre blanc. The delicate Alpine herbs will be crushed, and the tannins will clash with the sweetness.
Italian pasta with meat sauce
CLASSIC: Whole roasted organic chicken with caramelized summer squash. Rory Williams notes the wine's nimble fruit perfectly lifts the savory bird.
Beef steak and roasted vegetables
CLASSIC: Pan-seared duck breast (dry-aged 14 days) with a wild blueberry reduction, matching the wine's plummy core and piney herbal notes.
Winemaking & Vineyard
Production Notes:
The 2024 vintage marks a deeply personal milestone: the very first post-Calder solo varietal release of Charbono from Rory Williams under the Frog's Leap marquee. For years, Rory operated his own label, Calder Wine Company, to champion forgotten heritage varieties. In 2019, choosing fatherhood and balance, he folded Calder but brought his beloved Charbono back into the Frog's Leap fold, having previously blended it into their Heritage Red. For the 2024 release, exactly two tons of pristine Charbono were hand-harvested from the eastern side of the Williams Rossi block. Employing micro-lot winemaking, the clusters were destemmed and crushed into two open-top concrete tanksâa technique Rory champions for allowing oxygen exchange without imparting oakiness, locking in freshness. Native-yeast fermentation lasted 10 days, with manual punch-downs performed three times daily. The wine was then gently pressed and aged in neutral French oak puncheons for 7 months. Defying modern homogenization, it was bottled entirely unfiltered and unfined to preserve its characteristic tension, spice, and historical soul.
Vineyard Details:
The story begins in the historic Rossi Vineyard in Rutherford, a site famous for its century-old vines and iconic water tower. The Rossi family planted grapes on this 50-acre property in the early 20th century and never quitânot even during Prohibitionâkeeping esoteric varieties like Valdiguie, Riesling, and Charbono in the ground even as they grew unfashionable. Frog's Leap purchased the ranch outright in 2007. Inspiration struck when founder John Williams and his son Rory tasted a pristine bottle of 1964 Inglenook Charbono. Captivated by its 'intensity without weight', they defied their financial team's adviceâwho naturally wanted lucrative Cabernet planted on prime Rutherford dirtâand dedicated 2 acres of the Rossi vineyard to the nearly extinct Charbono in 2008. The grafting material was carefully sourced from Vince Tofanelli's historic, head-trained vineyard in Calistoga. Planted in Pleasanton gravelly loamâthe same rocky soils that yield world-class Cabernetsâthe vines are head-trained in the traditional gobelet style, certified organic, and strictly dry-farmed. Charbono, originally known as 'Corbeau' in its native French Savoie, emigrated to California in the late 19th century but today occupies fewer than 80 acres statewide, with nearly half of it miraculously clinging to life in Napa. The Williams Rossi block stands as a vinous time capsule, a direct connection to Napa's humble immigrant origins and a living rebellion against the modern dominance of monolithic Cabernet.
Awards & Accolades
⢠Antonio Galloni's Vinous spotlight: Frog's Leap was globally recognized, with one of their portfolio highlights breaking into the Top 5 domestic wines of the 2025 Top 100 list.
⢠Premiere Napa Valley Sensation: A companion 10-case micro-lot from the Williams Rossi vineyard stunned the auction, signaling intense collector demand for Napa heritage grapes.
⢠PRESS Restaurant Historical Collection: Frog's Leap heritage varieties are enshrined in the world's largest collection of historic Napa Valley wines as vital links to the past.
⢠San Francisco Chronicle Highlight (Esther Mobley): Named as a pivotal release returning a crucial sense of 'spice' and historic diversity to the modern Napa Valley landscape.
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