The history of Carmenere wines is quite similar to that of the Malbec
grape. Both were once prominent in France, both brought to South
America in the mid 1800’s by the French and both have become a very
important part of South American wine making as well as providing us with
some unique wines. The last similarity that they share is that they both
have fallen out of favor in their native country of France and are only
produced in extremely small quantities around the world outside of South
America. However, that is really where the similarities end. While
Malbec, predominantly an Argentinean grape, produces big tannic wines
with a lot of red fruits and spice, Carmenere is a much more mellow grape
with soft tannins and very herbal accents.
For me personally, I guess I would describe a Carmenere wine to someone
that has never tried it as a cross between Merlot and Cabernet Franc.
(You know Miles from Sideways would hate it then!) It shows a softness
on the palate with gentle tannins like a Merlot does, but it contains a lot of
those strong herbal tendencies that Cabernet Franc wines tend to display
very often. Chile is really the only country producing Carmenere wines in
any great quantity and frankly speaking, most of them to me are quite
forgettable. However, that being said, there are some dynamite
Carmenere wines out there. Probably at the top of the heap would be the
“Clos Apalta” wine from Casa Lapostolle. This wine is not totally made
from Carmenere, but certainly a majority of the blend is made from the
grape. Last year’s Clos Apalta, the 2001 vintage, scored a 95 in Wine
Spectator and was their No. 2 Wine in the World on their Top 100 list. I
guess you could say that Carmenere is capable of making some really
great wines provided the winemaker knows how to take care of the grape
in the vineyard.
Speaking of taking care of the grape in the vineyard, I believe that is what
is precisely at the root of all those bad Carmenere wines out there on the
market. You see, Carmenere requires a lot of heat to ripen and that
means an awful long hang time on the vine for grape growers. You have to
have patience here. That is precisely why the Carmenere grape fell out of
favor with the French in Bordeaux, which is where Carmenere originated.
Carmenere used to be a part of the traditional Bordeaux blend, but it took
entirely too long to ripen. This meant that if French winemakers crafting
their award-winning Bordeaux wines were counting on Carmenere to be a
part of the blend that makes up their wine, they would have to be willing to
gamble with September rains at harvest time in order to pick ripe
Carmenere grapes. Rain at harvest time essentially wipes out all the
good weather you could have possibly had throughout the growing season
because it dilutes the juice of the grapes. So the French figured, to heck
with it, we don’t need that grape in our Bordeaux wines anymore. I
suspect that the role that the Carmenere grape played in the blend is now
being facilitated by larger quantities of Cabernet Franc in the blend.
So that brings us to South America, Chile to be exact. Despite what you
might think initially, Chile really doesn’t have long summers. (Their warm
season would be the exact opposite of ours by the way.) So once again,
that means wine grape growers must be patient in order to let Carmenere
ripen fully on the vine. This I’m afraid is where many Chilean vintners fall
way short. Why, I do not know, it certainly doesn’t rain that much in
Chile, but they rush this process anyway. When a grape is picked early,
before it ripens, it tends to take on herbal aromas and flavors in favor of
the fruitier styles and nuances. This to me separates the good red wines
from the bad ones. I prefer a more balanced or ripen grape wine by the
way, to the weedy, less ripe versions.
If you had the opportunity to taste a Merlot wine from Chile before the
early nineties, more than likely you were actually drinking a Carmenere
wine. Carmenere grapes were the most predominantly planted grapes in
Chile, just like Malbec is for Argentina, but this isn’t why it was labeled as
“Merlot”. That statement might seem confusing, but what I mean by it is
that many other places around the world use the wrong names on their
wines to sell more of their less impressive wines. It’s called capitalizing
on someone else’s good name. Like in California where bulk wine
producers make cheap white wines from grapes you’ve never heard of and
call it “Chablis” after the more famous French Chardonnay wine region.
Don’t you know the French love that! Not!!
Well at any rate, the winemakers in Chile weren’t trying to mislead you by
calling these Carmenere wines “Merlot”, the simple truth of the matter is
that they actually thought the grape really was Merlot. The vines that
produce the grapes look very similar and are indeed really hard to tell
apart. But my goodness, the styles of wines could not taste anymore
different! Aye! They both are soft and mellow though, again, another
trait that could have mislead many a Chilean winemaker. It wasn’t until
1994 that French ampelographer, Jean Michel Bourisiquot discovered
that these grapevines were actually the then “Lost Grape of Bordeaux”,
Carmenere. Now wineries are doing their best to sort out which grapes
they receive from their growers are Merlot and which are actually
Carmenere. There are a few wineries left that don’t care and know that
Merlot has the better reputation, so they will continue to mislead you, but
by in large, many Chilean wineries have used this as an opportunity to
capitalize on something unique to them, that being Carmenere wines.
Have you seen one from somewhere else recently? I doubt it!
Well, while Chilean Merlot and Carmenere wines are still duking it out for
display space in the wine retail stores, Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon’s
continue to clobber them both in both quality and sales. But I commend
the winemakers in Chile that are determined to make great wines from the
Carmenere grape. I would hate to see yet another alternative disappear
from our choice of wines for the table. That is precisely what Carmenere
wines are, table wines. Good with food, but not great to sip on while
contemplating life. I picture them being very good wines to serve with
vegetarian dishes. Something like stuffed bell peppers or vegetarian
lasagna. Do you know any vegetarians? I don’t yet. I guess I’ll stick to
my Concha y Toro - Don Melcher Chilean Cab for now!
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