Thanks to the Wines of Chile, a non-profit, private organization of Chilean wine producers dedicated to promoting the quality and image of Chilean wines, here is a brief history of the Carménère (kar-men-nair) grape.
In 1994, fewer than 10 hectares (less than 25 acres) of Carménère remained in Médoc, Bordeaux, a region where it had been as important as Cabernet Franc in the 19th century. Outside the august circles of ampelographic experts (those involved in the science concerned with the identification and classification of grapevines), few knew it even existed. The aforementioned year turned out to be important: it saw a visit to Chile by French ampelographer Jean-Michel Boursiquot from the École Nationale Supérieure Agronomique de Montpellier for a viticultural congress in Santiago. On a tour of the Viña Carmen vineyard in Alto Jahuel, Maipo, Boursiquot identified Carménère vines that had up until then been mistaken for Merlot.
Three years earlier, another French expert had also expressed doubts about Chilean Merlot, noting that some vineyards were ripening three weeks later than they ought, and the plants turned a distinctive crimson red in the fall. But it wasn’t until Boursiquot’s discovery that Carménère began to be distinguished properly.
Known as Carménère in Médoc, a name derived from the French carmin (crimson), the variety has also borne the names Grande Vidure, Carmenelle, Cabernelle, Grant Carmenet, Carbouet and Cabernet Gernischt (used exclusively in China). News of its resurrection in the vineyards of Chile caused a stir across the winemaking world and marked the beginning of a revival of a grape previously thought to be almost extinct.
The Chilean wine industry got to work and started to assess the variety’s potential. According to a paper on the history of Carménère published by Philippo Pszczólkowski at the Universidad de Talca, an estimated one-third of what had been thought to be Merlot in 1994 (about 3,500 out of 10,000 hectares) was actually Carménère, meaning that in good conscience it could no longer be labelled Merlot. So, what was to be done? We’ll look into that next time. Cheers!