red grape · regional staple
Carmenère
Médoc, Bordeaux, France
Say it
kar·meh·nair
Final syllable rhymes with 'air'; grave accent on '-ère' marks stress; often anglicized as 'car-meh-NAIR' in US wine circles
On the palate
Body
medium full
Acidity
medium
Tannin
medium
Aromatics
pronounced
black cherryblack plumblackberrybell pepperblack pepperchocolate
How you spot it blind: green bell pepper cut through dark fruit, present even in fully ripe wines
The story
First written down · 1783, Médoc, Bordeaux, France
French ampelographer Jean-Michel Boursiquot identified Carmenère growing as misidentified Merlot in Chilean vineyards on November 24, 1994; DNA confirmation followed and Chile officially recognized it as a distinct variety in 1998.
Where it lives
Colchagua Valley, Chile · Cachapoal Valley (Peumo), Chile · Maipo Valley, Chile · Curicó Valley, Chile · Médoc, France (residual)
Shows up as
still red