Carmenere

This post is about Carmenere, the finest wine grape of Chile.  We've written about it several times in the past, alway recounting its fascinating backstory about how it became what it is today.  Now it's time to move on.  Stop by the store if you want to hear the story. 

Carmenere finds its best expression in the Central Valley of Chile.  The Central Valley is huge with several microclimates going both north to south and east to west.  North and South in the southern hemisphere would, of course, reverse what we know about climate in the Central Coast of California.  The east-west business has no obvious parallel elsewhere.  The Andes Mountain foothills offer much desired elevation for fine wine vineyards while the flatlands closer to the ocean offer a venue for bulk wine production. All within a hundred miles or so!

So, is Carmenere one of the great wine grapes of the world?  Probably not.  Although the usual disclaimer applies here like everywhere else - If you get the right grape planted in the ideal location the wine can potentially be world class.  The Apalta vineyards of the Colchagua Valley are just that and if you want proof, scroll down to our February 16th post.

Today there are just a few hundred acres of Carmenere left in all of Europe.  A limited amount is still found in its birthplace, Bordeaux, where it retains its original name, Grand Vidure. The grape has a legacy there, having parented most of the better known Bordeaux varieties.  Most European Carmenere today can be found in northeastern Italy where it wears the moniker Carmenero.  The name Carmenere, of course, comes from the dark red-purplish color, carmine.

So we said earlier that Carmenere was probably not one of the top tier wine grapes.  It is however one helluva blender and that is what its role was in Bordeaux.  It is most similar to Petit Verdot.  In Chile it is an essential component of the greatest wines of the country.  It adds soft structured tannins and aromas of red fruit (berries) and spices.  On the palate it offers dark chocolate, tobacco and leather.  If yields are restricted, the herbaceousness that puts some of us off, is limited.  

When bottled as a single varietal, Carmenere makes a fine glass of dry red wine.  But when it's in a blend with Syrah, Cabernet and/or the other usual components, Carmenere shows its full potential.  Chile, like California, only requires 75% of a varietally labeled wine to be composed of that grape.  So if you get into a bottle of varietal Carmenere, knowing what we know about its usage, it is probably a 25% mixture of Cabernet, Syrah or any of the usual blenders.  Usually a darker color in the glass shows it's a blend and that is what you want.