Carménère is often overlooked by some wine enthusiasts due to its heavily vegetal nature. It’s brazen, it’s brassy, and it can be tough to pair with the right food. But a well crafted bottle of this Chilean classic can offer up complex aromas at a fraction of the price of its Bordeaux cousins.
Let’s have a look at all this pyrazine-infused red has to offer during this week’s Tasting Challenge.
What is the Tasting Challenge? The challenge is a way to improve your wine palate each week with 34 wines from 12 countries — The Wine Tasting Challenge.
This Carménère is from the Maipo Valley: the closest wine region to Chile’s capital Santiago.
While Carménère isn’t Chile’s most planted grape (that would be Cabernet Sauvignon) no country in the world produces more of it than they do.
For that reason, one could argue that Carménère is their most culturally significant grape, making it a natural choice for the first venture into Chile during this Tasting Challenge.
Adopted from France’s
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This went a long way toward breathing new life into a grape that had nearly been forgotten in its homeland.
Maipo Valley is a warmer climate Chilean wine region, leading to the growth of many Bordeaux varieties. The wines made there are known for a distinctly Chilean earthiness, and that distinction was a big factor in choosing this wine.
How would this compare to a French Carménère? Well, that’s tough to say, as there’s so little being planted in France currently. In fact, China grows more Carménère than France at this point.
But due to the fact that it was mistaken for Merlot for a long time, it’s safe to assume that French Carménère would be very similar. That is: medium bodied and tannic, with notes of red and black fruit.
2018 Legado Reserva Carmenere
Look: Deep ruby.
Aromas: Rich and complex! Notes of blackberry reduction, stewed tomatoes, dark chocolate, balsamic reduction, cigar, black plum, potpourri, and dried cranberry.
On The Palate: Blackberry brambles and tobacco. There’s some meaty and rich fruit in there, but you’ll find yourself focusing on the vegetal nature of the wine. Sharp, green tannins and a long finish.
Food Pairing: A steak topped with mushrooms and a balsamic glaze. Perhaps a skewer of smoky, grilled vegetables that still have a lot of crunch to them.
What We Learned About Chilean Carménère
Carménère is originally from France. In fact, it’s one of the six grapes currently allowed in Bordeaux’s famous red blends.
But don’t expect to see vineyards overflowing with these red berries.
A massive phylloxera outbreak destroyed most of Bordeaux’s vineyards in the 1870s, and given the opportunity to rebuild and regroup, most winemakers in the region chose to grow the less difficult Cabernet…
