The Riddle of the Grapes  

January, 2010

Some friends of ours recently took a trip to South America and Antarctica visiting Argentina and Chile. I asked them what they thought of the wines they encountered on their travels. Whilst enjoying many they particularly enjoyed the Carmeneres of Chile. 

Just before Christmas independent wine merchants Stone, Vine and Sun e-mailed me about a special offer for a particular Chilean Carmenere which I decided to snap up. 

Unfortunately delivery of the wine was delayed because it was damaged in transit, which happens every now and then. The blokes at Stone, Vine and Sun very kindly were going to send a different wine of similar value but such was my interest in Carmenere that I suggested they still send the bottles with wine stained labels and merely replace the four that were broken. This they did very efficiently. 

Now Carmenere as a grape variety has been a bit of a riddle and has emerged from obscurity having once being considered virtually extinct. In 1994 a French ampelographer identified some of Chile’s plantings of Merlot as in fact Carmenere, once popular in the Medoc region of Bordeaux and considered one of the classic claret varieties alongside Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot. 

Its demise has been attributed to its low yields because of susceptibility to “coulere” (the small berries dropping off stalks after flowering) and to the insect phylloxera that ravaged the French vineyards in the 1860s. Thus there is very little left in France and it is thought that Chile’s Carmenere vines were first imported from Bordeaux in the 1850’s along with other varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.  

Although for nearly 150 years confused with Merlot, the Chileans had their suspicions about this later ripening version thinking it a clone of Merlot and giving it the name Merlot Selection or Merlot Peumal. Today there are over 6000 hectares of Carmenere in Chile where it seems to thrive, producing wines displaying red fruit characters, gentle tannins, spice, dark chocolate and medium body. 

I have not tried many varietal Carmeneres knowingly but may have whilst drinking Chilean Merlots in the 1990’s. I certainly would have quaffed blends with this mystery variety. The 2008 Terra Andina Carmenère from Stone, Vine and Sun has proved to be most enjoyable with its chocolate and blueberry flavours, plumpness, velvet tannins and hint of oak. Not overly complex but great for the price. 

Another example of why to go to an independent wine merchant not a supermarket, however I fear the “earth, wind and fire” chaps may have sold out. Worth asking. 

Tanners has a good selection of Carmeneres and Corney and Barrow as well as the Colchester Wine Company each have one. Time to explore I say. 

Next week I will explore what Zinfandel, Primitivo and Plavac Mali have in common. Are they all race horses, Eastern European boy bands or medical conditions?