The other day I went into Esquin, my local wine shop, to purchase iconic wines of South America for an upcoming tasting. I mentioned to Jeff, their sommelier, that I wanted to get a few bottles of Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon and Argentine Malbecs as those wines are what I associate with those countries.
But Jeff, being the knowledgeable guy that he is, told me that Carmenere wines, not Cabernets, are the most iconic in Chile and then he proceeded to spin a fabulous tale on the history of Carmenere…
Long ago and far away there were 6 original types of Bordeaux grapes; Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Petite Verdot, Merlot and Carmenere. But in the late 1800s a type of bug known as the phylloxera wiped out much of Europe’s vineyards, with France being the most hard hit. Estimates show that France went from producing 84.5M hectoliters in 1875 to 23.4 in 1889. When the plague was over and the French went to replant their vines they chose not to replant Carmenere both because they couldn’t find much of it to replant and because it was a finicky grape with a long growing cycle. So the grape went extinct and the world’s wine drinkers cried.
![Carmenere_Merlot[1]](https://mywinetribe.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Carmenere_Merlot1.jpg)
So the world thought…however the Chileans had imported cuttings of Carmenere back in the 1850s century and had planted it thinking it was Merlot (which isn’t hard to imagine given the grape’s similarities). In fact, since they were mixing Carmenere grapes with Merlot grapes Chilean Merlots had unique characteristics that were attributed to the local soil, weather etc. (aka: terroir). Fast forward to 1994 when it was discovered that those unique Merlot grapes in Chile were actually Carmemere grapes. And the wine world applauded.
What a story!
Today, Chile remains the leading producer of Carmenere grapes, which are known for their fruity, spicy and chocolaty flavors. Less tannic than Cabernet Sauvignon this would be a good grape for those of you in the Balanced and Developed tribes.
Ill let you know how our Latin American tasting goes next week. Cheers!
