Tofanelli Vineyards - Gold Medal Winner 2006 Napa Valley Estate Zinfandel 2006 Napa Valley Estate Charbono This wine is available for $36 plus FREE shipping. 15% Discount for case purchases States Tofanelli ships to: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District Of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming Only 627 Zinfandel cases produced - Only 260 Charbono cases produced

 

Indie Winemakers' Tasting Notes

Our mission is to provide unbiased opinions of the wine being offered. These notes come from up to 10 guests who tasted this wine in a blind tasting format (wine is concealed so their identity is unknown). Why this format? Tasting blind completely throws out any hype associated with a certain winery, style, price point, etc; it forces the taster to accept what is in the glass without any predetermined notions. Our guests utilize Robert Parker's Glossary of Wine Terms for their comments for consistency purposes. In addition, we utilize the wine aroma wheel to enhance one’s ability to describe the complexity of wine flavor. Notes are posted on this wine during the tasting to ensure they accurately reflect the impressions.

Tasting Notes - 2006 Napa Valley Charbono

Our tasting notes include sight, aromatics and palate. For more information, see our Tasting Techniques

• Sight: This wine is dark ruby in color. Huge teardrops with no color variation.
• Aromatics: Dark fruit aromas with blackberries, slightly mineral and a slight tobacco, and leather aroma.
• Palate: Very smooth soft mouthfeel, big body and mostly balanced. A bit of tannins were noted in the finish suggesting another year will round out the wine. Will gain complexity and harmony in a few months.

Tasting Notes - 2006 Napa Valley Zinfandel

Our tasting notes include sight, aromatics and palate. For more information, see our Tasting Techniques

• Sight: This wine is dark ruby in color. Huge teardrops with a slight color variation.
• Aromatics: Ripe fruits with cherry jam and licorice, slight pepper and herb aromas.
• Palate: Very smooth soft mouthfeel, medium body with ripe fruit richness; balanced. A great Zinfandel for those who like their Zins on the big side.

Winemaker's Tasting Notes - 06 Zinfandel

Leaping out of the glass with notes of black cherry, candied apple, raspberry jam, orange zest and cola nut, rounded out with hints of cedar, black tea and cigar box, this Zin coats the palate gently with supple, brambly fruit concentration. Sophisticated, layered and well-balanced, the wine’s natural acidity marries perfectly with the fine oak tannins that lend weight and length to the mouth feel. Pairs nicely with well-ripened hard cheeses such as French Cantal.

Winemaker's Tasting Notes - 06 Charbono

In addition to being extremely dark and deep, the aromas and flavors of this exotic wine combine distinctive aspects of blueberry compote, brioche, hazelnut, sweet tobacco, allspice, leather and wet granite. Mouth-filling and very inviting, its finely-grained tannins conjure plush black velvet. This wine is fantastic with food, and will age graciously for up to 15 years. Pairs deliciously with soft, fragrant cheeses such as Italian Dolce Gorganzola.

Vintage Description

We had a cool wet spring in 2006 which gave me concern due to a high percentage of spoilage organisms like boytritis and phomopsis. As an organic farmer, given the potential problems, vigilance was my best tool. My mantra was “no surprises.” To that end, much time was spent among the vines during the growing season. Balance in the vineyard equals balance in the bottle! Fruit thinning and canopy management (removing leaves to encourage air flow and light) were crucial viticultural practices for the vintage. As I recall, mild fall weather helped me breathe a bit easier, and my decisions to harvest were based on flavors instead of impending rain!

Allow me to expound a little on grape flavors. Because I do very little manipulation at the winery, it is extremely important that I capture the essence of the vineyard at the time of harvest. What do I look for? Varietal information of course (if it’s zinfandel, it should taste like zinfandel), but also more subtle notes of acidity, tannin, and a certain depth of flavor that speaks of the vineyard itself. All that, from one berry? Well, in a word, no. During the course of the harvest, I taste (and eat) an uncountable number of berries. By the time harvest is over, I will have had quite my fill of grapes!

Compared to the time spent in the vineyard, the winemaking process is relatively short. The fruit was picked early in the day, brought to the winery and de-stemmed into small 240 gallon fermenters. No sulfites were added at this time so an active wild yeast culture was retained on the grape skins. After a cool rest period, spontaneous fermentation began. Manual punch downs (stirring the pot!) twice daily broke up the floating grape skins (called must) for color and flavor extraction. After all the fermentable sugars were gone (14 to 16 days), the must was gently pressed to extract the resulting wine which was then aged in small oak barrels.

After 20 months of barrel age the wines were bottled and allowed to rest for an additional 5 months before release to you.