Caro Nonno Wines was founded by winemaker Shauna Herman with the first vintage in 2016, a single bottling of Zinfandel from Lodi. Winemaking is her way of both embracing her cultural heritage, creating something tangible and combining her love of the outdoors and hard work. And it is a love letter and tribute to her maternal grandfather, Bruno Malucchi (died 2014), known as Nonno.
Bruno’s parents moved to San Francisco from Luca, Italy. He was born and raised in San Francisco where he used to make home wine in his garage with the grapes from a friend who lived in Sonoma. And he also produced home made vinegar. While Shauna never made wine with him directly, she heard lots of stories about his winemaking including the use of his old wooden hand-press.
Never graduating from high school, he was a self-made man who founded San Francisco (Bayview District) based Devincenzi Trucking in 1945, a company their family operated through 2023. He was also a boxer in his youth, but most importantly family was the center of his life. He was an influential man and inspired Shauna to create Caro Nonno in his honor. She graduated from U.C. Davis with a degree in Viticulture and Enology in 2015. During her senior year she worked as a harvest intern at St. Jorge Winery in Lodi and lived with him for a short while; while he didn’t live to see Caro Nonno come to fruition, he knew his grand daughter was pursuing a career focused on wine.
Shauna’s first cellar job in Napa Valley following graduation was as an intern at Somerston Winery. She enjoyed the hands on part of the cellar work and the ethos of learning by doing. Somerston is also a custom-crush winery and is where she met a number of winemakers who became early supporters of her career including Cody Hurd, Rudy Zuidema, Kent Jarmon and Craig Becker.
Caro Nonno means ‘dear grandpa’ in Italian; the back labels display highly personalized notes that Shauna penned to her nonno after his death, highlighting important life moments including marriage, time spent with him including listening to his stories and starting this brand in his honor.
Can wines be intimate? The answer is yes – when their production is so limited and are made by hand. But there is more than the winemaking here; the Caro Nonno wines are built as a highly personal pursuit focused on family, stories, culture and legacy. And they are crafted on the elegant side of the spectrum, are balanced, food friendly and comfortable to drink in their youth.
Select Wines
Zinfandel was the first wine Shauna produced; through a family friend in Lodi she was referred to a specific vineyard. Her first lot was an experiment and part of a learning curve, but she was very happy with the results. She favors the ripeness in particular of this variety showcased from Lodi. However, her sources for Zinfandel have often changed. In 2019 she made a Napa Valley Zinfandel from Pratt Ave in St. Helena. In 2020 due to smoke taint, the grapes from this particular vineyard were not harvested. And in 2023 she produced a Zinfandel from the Wildwood Vineyard in Kenwood (Sonoma Valley)
The 2021 Caro Nonno Lodi Zinfandel is blended with 5% Syrah; each variety was fermented separate from one another. This wine is medium to deep ruby in color; bramble and berry fruits including raspberry, red cherry, and lighter baking spices including cloves are part of its aromatic profile. The entry is soft and plush, leading to a flavorful palate focused on its fruit characteristics including raspberry, strawberry, red licorice and a lingering persistent note of red plum. This is an easy drinking and comfortable Zinfandel. Hints of white pepper, sage and dried bay leaf show, especially noticeable on the back of the palate. The tannins are lightly textured and seamlessly integrated into the finish. Lingers with a very light dry character. Drinks well by itself. It is balanced without needing to be showy or opulent as this wine is sometimes. This wine does not drink like its listed 15.2% alcohol. Bruno was a golden gloves boxer; the image on the label is of his own gloves.
The 2021 Combustion Napa Valley, Alko Ranch Pope Valley is 100% varietal Sangiovese. It is medium ruby; the palate is alive and energetic featuring primarily red fruits. Smells elegant. There are also notes of red cherry, plum and currant along with a hint of dust and or red chili pepper. This is a brightly lit and balanced bottling with flavors of red cherry, currant, plum and cranberry. The tannins are lightly grainy but rounded and linger on the red-fruited finish along with hint of tartness and drying character persisting for some time. Shauna favors Pope Valley for this variety in particular, in regard to its warm days and cooler nights. Tasting this wine reminds us of when as a child, we used to help make home-made ravioli in our grandparents basement in San Jose. The first Sangiovese produced by Caro Nonno was in 2018. And the name of this wine is in homage to her husband, Nico, a firefighter in San Francisco. 15.1% alcohol.
Caro Nonno produces a Syrah but it is labeled as a red wine; Shauna has found that in terms of marketing, a ‘red wine’ is sometimes more favorably looked upon than a wine labeled as a Syrah. Some clients have told her they dislike Syrah in particular and it is their least favorite variety. In our personal experience, sometimes we hear customers say, “Syrah’s are too peppery”. However, after trying this particular wine, these same customers were pleasantly surprised and told her this was their favorite Caro Nonno wine.
Shauna was first introduced to the Vivio Vineyard after trying a 2012 Syrah in a shiner that winemaker Craig Becker used to produce for his own brand, High Flyer. This vineyard in particular ripens slowly and evenly with a long hang time. The grapes fully mature but also maintain their acidity. Bennett Valley is often covered fog in the summer but burns off by mid to late morning. The vineyard is farmed carefully, dropping grapes for balanced yields and canopy opened to maximize exposure.
The 2021 The Irishman’s Red Bennett Valley Sonoma County (Vivio Vineyard) is a blend of 90% Syrah and 10% Zinfandel. This wine is deep ruby and nearly opaque; the darker bouquet is a bit moody until it evolves in the glass and then the fruit becomes more expressive. Smells like a Syrah. We like that. It offers scents of dried herbs including smoked sage, a gamey character, a light kiss of dark pepper and Santa Rosa plum. Bright across the palate, it reveals red and darker fruits including plum, bramble, dark raspberry, cherry, currant. The finish is mouth watering. It’s texture is a hallmark attribute with a gravelly, almost dense feel paralleled by a dusty nuance persisting far beyond the fruit on the lengthy finish. Savory, dried herbs. Tasting this made us want a BBQ steak. We would love to try this in the next 5-10 years. This wine is usually the largest Caro Nonno production and is created every year in homage to her father and his Irish heritage. The image on the label of a clover leaf and is based on a metal pendant she owns. 14.8% alcohol.
The 2019 Caro Nono Cabernet Sauvignon Alko Vineyard Pope Valley; this wine is deep ruby and opaque. The bouquet sports aromas of bramble, dark raspberry, blackberry and boysenberry with a very subtle accompanying layer of nutmeg and clove. Let this wine evolve in the glass and it will show more baking spices. On the palate, there are flavors of plum, red cherry, blackberry and dark currant. The finish is juicy and mouth watering accompanied by a light red-fruited tartness. It is long and texture filled, supported by moderate but not coarse gripping tannins which fully coat the palate. There is also a light dried tobacco leaf and dusty/chalky character on the finish. This wine showcases finesse both on the bouquet and the palate which is often not the case with richer, bolder and more opulent wines of this variety from contemporary Napa Valley. Nicely done. This wine was aged in 50% new French oak barrels. 14.8% alcohol.
—
While Caro Nonno’s production to date has been focused on red wines, at least one bottling of a white wine is typically produced annually. The labels were designed by Napa based Plumbline Studios, Inc. The Caro Nonno red wines feature dark background labels while the white wines are bottled with a white background.
Production is usually between 100 to 200 cases of each wine ranging from 400-500 cases in total. When working with such a small production each year, production levels do vary.
The wines are primarily sold direct to consumer through the Caro Nonno website and wine club which includes quarterly shipments of 3 or 6 bottles/shipment with the option to customize the shipments. A limited number of wines are available at a couple of restaurants in San Francisco including Original Joes. And Caro Nonno hosts a once a year release parties, allowing customers the opportunity to taste and purchase current release wines.
For more information, to purchase wine or to signup for the wine club, visit: www.carononnowines.com
Leave a Reply