Posts Tagged ‘Chile’

Carmenere

I thought I’d shed some light on one of my favorite  grape varieties many find mysterious, and for good reason.  Carmenere (kar-ma-nair-uh) is often referred to as the lost Bordeaux varietal.  It was mainly used in France as a blending grape, much like Malbec.  Carmenere was wiped out in the late 19th century due to a Phylloxera epidemic which killed most of the vineyards in France.  Phylloxera are little insects that feed off the vines.

Prior to the Phylloxera invasion, Chilean winery owners imported Carmenere vines and planted them in their vineyards.  This is where the mystery of the grape begins.  For almost a century, Carmenere was thought to be Merlot.  It is very similar in appearance and Carmenere was thought to have died off with the other varieties in France.  Carmenere was picked as Merlot and labeled as Merlot.  It wasn’t until the early 1990’s, through DNA testing, that it was isolated as Carmenere.

In current times, Carmenere is almost indigenous to Chile.  Very little can be found around the world, including France.  Since realizing they had an abundance of Carmenere, Chilean wineries have been experimenting with the grape as it’s own varietal, as opposed to just using it as a blending grape.  Carmenere takes much longer to ripen on the vine than Merlot, so when it was picked with Merlot, it wasn’t ripe enough to show its true qualities.  Attempts in the 1990’s to produce it on its own many times resulted in a very “green” tasting wine with high acidity and a big smokey nose.  There is a distinct “green pepper” vegetal quality to the taste and nose, and when picked early it is much more pronounced.  Through experimentation, winemakers realized that Carmenere needed much more time on the vine to ripen.  Now it is picked closer to when Cabernet is (and many times after), which is much later in the harvest than Merlot.  After having learned how to handle the grape from vineyard to barrel aging to bottle, there are many stellar Carmenere’s coming out of Chile.  It has a deep red color, softer tannins than Cabernet, but still can be a bold wine.  It’s characteristics are spicy, earthy, green pepper, blackberry and coffee.

A few of my favorites are La Playa Block Selection Carmenere ($11) – Mont Gras Reserva Carmenere ($11) – Apaltagua Estate Carmenere ($9)

Carmenere Grapes                                    Merlot Grapes

A Gold Medal For Chile

O.K.  So, it’s time to start posting again after learning more about navigating the blogosphere.  Been having much fun watching the Olympics and enjoying wine as an accompaniment to the games.  My daughter asked me while watching what I thought the best thing about TV was while we were enjoying some figure skating.  I told her the best thing for me was that it brings the world into our family room.  The Olympics, news, culture shows, history shows, and the occasional Modern Family.  That got me to thinking about wine, as I had a glass of a nice Chilean wine in my hand when her inquisitive question blurted out.  The best thing about wine for me, other than the obvious, is it brings the world into our family room.  Wine is produced on almost every Continent from so many regions and climates and we can get a taste of those far away places while enjoying whatever activities we are engaged in in our hometowns.  So, here’s what I was enjoying:

Yali - Cabernet-Carmenere 2008  ($8) ♥♥♥ From the Vina Ventisquero (www.ventisquero.com).  Yali is made from grapes grown in the Rapel Valley region of Chile.  Rapel Valley is in the central growing region of Chile just south of Santiago and close to the pacific.  This wine is a nice pairing of Cabernet and Carmenere (kar-ma-nair-uh).  I’ll post some info on Carmenere in the Wine Education category.  It’s a wonderfully bold grape when handled correctly by the winemaker with an interesting past and voyage.  Don’t let the 2008 vintage scare you, as South America is a whole half year ahead of us in harvesting their vintages.  Remember, it’s summer down there now and early harvest will begin soon (usually August for Napa).  This wine was very drinkable with bold character (especially for the price).  The Carmenere gives it a bold red color,  nice hint of spice (think pepper), some hint of tobacco on the nose and a bit of a smokey note.  The Cabernet imparts some nice, softer tannins (that somewhat astringent mouthfeel from a bold red), but still that boldness and hint of currant you expect from Cabernet.  I enjoyed it enough that I decided to try the Sauvignon Blanc, which by all accounts didn’t disappoint.  It had all the qualities I like in a Sauvignon Blanc, some grapefruit flavors (but not too much), citrus notes on the nose, good mineral characteristics (best described as the flavors the grape derives from the soil it’s grown in) and a crisp mouth-feel.  Both very approachable wines that deliver beyond their price.