Grape variety
Carmenère
Carmenère: Bordeaux’s forgotten grape, identified in Chile in 1994. Origin, parentage, style, Chile and Italy, and what to eat with it.
- Colour
- Red
- Parentage
- Natural cross of Cabernet Franc × Gros Cabernet, from the Médoc
- Rediscovery
- Identified as Carmenère in Chile in 1994 (previously taken for Merlot), officially recognised there in 1998
- Main regions
- Chile (about 10,000 hectares), north-eastern Italy (Veneto, Friuli), small amounts in Bordeaux
- Typical aromas
- Red and black fruit, spice, smoke, chocolate, green pepper (when underripe)
- Classic pairing
- Grilled meat, stews, mushrooms, spicy food
Carmenère is Bordeaux’s forgotten grape. Before the phylloxera crisis it was among the vines of the Médoc and the Graves; its name comes from the French “carmin”, crimson, the colour of its autumn leaves. An old Bordeaux name was “Grande Vidure”. It is a cross of Cabernet Franc and Gros Cabernet, and so a half-sibling of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, which also have Cabernet Franc as a parent.
It almost vanished from Bordeaux. After mildew and phylloxera in the 19th century, grafted onto rootstocks, it was less happy: it flowered badly, gave small and unreliable crops and ripened late. Few growers replanted it; Merlot and the Cabernets took its place.
Chile saved it without knowing. In the 19th century cuttings from Bordeaux came to the country and were planted as Merlot, often mixed. In the early 1990s it was noticed that some “Merlot” plots behaved differently. In 1994 the French ampelographer Jean-Michel Boursiquot identified the variety as Carmenère, and in 1998 Chile recognised it officially. Today Chile has about 10,000 hectares, mostly in Colchagua, Maule and Cachapoal, which is most of the world’s plantings.
In the glass, Carmenère is dark and soft, with red and black fruit, spice, smoke and chocolate. The vine buds and flowers a few days after Merlot and the grape ripens late, two to three weeks after it; when it is not quite ripe, green pepper and herbs dominate, a matter of pyrazines as with the Cabernets. In mixed plots picking was a dilemma: waiting for the Carmenère left the Merlot overripe, picking earlier left the Carmenère green. Fully ripe and with moderate yields it gives wines with softer tannins than Cabernet Sauvignon, which suit spicy food better.
In Italy it was long mistaken for Cabernet Franc in the north-east, in Veneto and Friuli, where it is still widely planted; in the Colli Berici near Vicenza a DOC wine bears its name, Colli Berici Carmenère. At the table it goes with grilled meat, stews, mushrooms and spiced dishes; thanks to its soft tannins it also copes with vegetable dishes with peppers and lively spice. Serve it at 16 to 18 degrees.