Jenise wrote:When you drink a charbono, it's easy to understand how at one time it was a thing in Napa to use it to make pinot noirs sturdier. And it did, the only mistake was to think pinot noir needed that kind of help.
I recall that from the early days - I was down in Napa consistently in the 70s and 80s and noted which pinots to avoid, as the charbono may have provided some 'spine' to the pinots but it also eliminated much of whatever subtlety the wines would otherwise have had or might have developed.
That approach also affected the winemaking of single varietals - monster zins and petite sirahs that needed many years to become drinkable, much less interesting. I understand that having delicate wines that became interesting in the short term was viewed as being 'wussy' but the reverse attitude (perhaps best evinced by Ravenswoods "No Wimpy Wine" motto and T shirts - I used to have one somewhere - went too far in the opposite direction, IMHO.
I still have some 90s Turley Petite Sirahs that may be ready some day.....
