Hayfork Charbono Calistoga 2022

Haley Wight's family has been farming the historic Lewelling Vineyard just a mile from ACME in the western hills of St. Helena since 1864. By now, most folks who care about such things know that the Wight Family's Lewelling Ranch produces some of the most alluring and gratifying Cabernet Sauvignon in all of California. Haley and her husband, Erik, now make their own wines from the vineyards surrounding her childhood home. More than the family's long-term connections and reputation for being salt-of-the-earth wine industry pillars, more than the legacy of six generations of this family having hands in the raising of superior wine grapes, there's more to it than all of that. Haley and Erik make honest, delicious wine and are stewards of a precious corner of this beautiful Napa Valley.

Haley's bond with the natural world may have started in Napa Valley as the "heir" to a grape-growing dynasty, but it has extended well beyond the vineyards of our tiny region. Before returning home to start a career in wine, Haley lived and worked in Washington State as a Park Ranger. It was in Washington where she met her husband Erik, and where she fostered her love of the outdoors through trail running, skiing, and hiking. While she did not undergo formal winemaking training, Haley credits her degree in earth science and upbringing amongst the vines with providing her an informal education where she learned through osmosis and hands-on time in her family's vineyards. Upon returning to Napa Valley, Haley and Erik established Hayfork to showcase the excellence in farming that makes for good wine from their family vineyard and heritage sites throughout Napa.

Haley sourced the fruit for her 2022 Hayfork Charbono from a fellow legacy farmer, Peter Heitz of the Heitz Family Ranch. Peter's family has farmed their small plot of vineyards since 1904, when his great grandparents immigrated from Alsace to Calistoga and set down roots. The Charbono were amongst the first vines they planted in the early 1900s and hailed from the Savoie region of France. These same vines produced the fruit for the Hayfork Charbono and are the few heritage vines remaining of the varietal in Napa. Due to their age, the vines are low-yielding with fewer clusters, but those clusters pack a concentrated punch of flavor.

The 100% Charbono aged in neutral oak barrels for just under 12 months before bottling. Haley describes the wine as "full-bodied with deep color and moderate acidity, and inherently balanced and surprisingly complex for a wine without new oak…easy and approachable with layers of earthy tannin and generous flavors of wild raspberry, black plum, and bay laurel." With the deep Napa Valley roots of Haley as winemaker and Peter as farmer, this Charbono is a hallmark wine showcasing the exceptional heritage of growers in our tiny region. Only 95 cases produced!