WTN: 2006 Viña Carmen Carmenère

Like many people, I love an underdog. Now that malbec has risen to a higher league, I would like to like bonarda and carmenère. For some reason, Torrontés doesn't strike me as an underdog; perhaps you have to be a red wine grape in order to qualify. But I digress: despite my sympathy for the cause, I have yet to like a carmenére. For the first one, about five years ago, I made the mistake of going right to the top: a highly-rated Concha y Toro Terrunyo of forgotten vintage threw green stems at me from an international style platform of heavy-handed American oak that put me off trying another one for some time.

Marcia says there was a craze for Carmenère in Brazil before I moved down, so she has tried several and has able to form a varietal picture in a way that I haven't. So when our friend Marcelo gave us this bottle, I was glad for the opportunity to reevaluate and learn.

On the back of the label, it says: "Vina Carmen rescued and launched the Carmenère grape in 1994." So I'm thinking, is this a coincidence, or what? Carmen rescues Carmenère? I figure, if anyone knows how they handle this grape, they do.

2006 Viña Carmen Carmenère Valle Central 13.5%
Attractive crimson color. Simple but crystaline nose of sour cherry and green stems, the latter reminiscent, but different in a way that I can't explain, from the green stems I often find in young Burgundy. Tart in the mouth, with good acidity, almost no tannin, and flavors of ripe cherries and, very present, those green stems, with some chocolate, green pepper, and smoke. Has a sweetish finish over a light frame of American oak vanilla. The alcohol level is about right, only occasionally giving the impression of heat. So, it all boils down to whether you like green stems or not. I, unfortunately, don't.

I've read about how, in Chile, carmenère was always harvested prematurely before the 1990s because it was mistaken for merlot, which it closely resembles. Supposedly, that explained an unsavory green taste that it imparted to Chilean merlot back then. But that woundn't apply to the carmenères I've tried, in which that green seems to live on (probably in much subdued form). Truth is, I haven't had enough of them to form a picture, but Marcia tells me that the ones she's tried have all featured that green stem taste. The (re)search continues.

Hello, Oswaldo.
Carmenere was originally a Bordeaux, and the French interplanted it with merlot because it has a similar palate weight and plummy profile. Unfortunately, it requires much more time and heat to ripen, so in cooler vintages it was throwing off their cuvees. Instead of doing something sensible like planting it in the Rhone , they ripped it all out and sent some to Chile, mis-identified as merlot. Although the vines are almost identical to merlot, the Chileans quickly figured out that it was something different, but they did not know what it was so for many years it thrived under the name Grand Vidure. It has recently been identified through the magic of genetic testing as carmenere. Carmenere does have a distinctive herbal/woody/tobacco character that many find pleasing. It is, however, a difficult grape to work with as it is sensitive to both drought and overwatering, and if pruned incorrectly will quickly go into decline. Well-tended vines picked at maturity will produce a plummy wine with moderate tannins, reasonable alcohols (12-13%) and a pleasing cigar character. Overwatered, or picked too soon, and the variety has that green stemminess that many complain of. Keep looking, and be selective. I think when you find a really good carmenere you will see what I mean by tobacco, and will appreciate it for its layers of flavor. (I have tried the Concho y Toro, at least the wines that are sent to the US, and have not liked them at all. In addition to being not varietally correct, they are grossly overmanipulated, with too much oak and obvious additions to the wine. But that might just be their lower-level wines meant for export and not what is available in Brazil.)

This is all very informative, thanks Mary.

This forum has often featured an Open Mike where we take a certain wine or grape variety and we taste and discuss. Think with winter/red wine season approaching, maybe an Open Mike: Carmenere is in order!
Will place on the back burner at Doris Ranch and revisit next month maybe?

Hello, Oswaldo.
Carmenere was originally a Bordeaux, and the French interplanted it with merlot because it has a similar palate weight and plummy profile. Unfortunately, it requires much more time and heat to ripen, so in cooler vintages it was throwing off their cuvees. Instead of doing something sensible like planting it in the Rhone , they ripped it all out and sent some to Chile, mis-identified as merlot. Although the vines are almost identical to merlot, the Chileans quickly figured out that it was something different, but they did not know what it was so for many years it thrived under the name Grand Vidure. It has recently been identified through the magic of genetic testing as carmenere. Carmenere does have a distinctive herbal/woody/tobacco character that many find pleasing. It is, however, a difficult grape to work with as it is sensitive to both drought and overwatering, and if pruned incorrectly will quickly go into decline. Well-tended vines picked at maturity will produce a plummy wine with moderate tannins, reasonable alcohols (12-13%) and a pleasing cigar character. Overwatered, or picked too soon, and the variety has that green stemminess that many complain of. Keep looking, and be selective. I think when you find a really good carmenere you will see what I mean by tobacco, and will appreciate it for its layers of flavor. (I have tried the Concho y Toro, at least the wines that are sent to the US, and have not liked them at all. In addition to being not varietally correct, they are grossly overmanipulated, with too much oak and obvious additions to the wine. But that might just be their lower-level wines meant for export and not what is available in Brazil.)

Thanks for the excellent information, Mary. A colleague from a Brazilian message board posted the following suggestions, which I translate:

In my opinion, you will find these green woody notes in most low and medium level Carmeneres. One or another, depending on the vintage, might depart from this general characteristic. The last I tried that didn't show it was the Torres Santa Digna Reserva 2005.
But, in high level Carmeneres, the predominant characteristic is velvety fruit, without the green. Last week I tried a Purple Angel 2005 that, depite being very young, is an expression of what this grape does best. I also liked very much the De Martino Gran Familia 2002, but haven't tried the Carmim de Peumo. But good wines from this grape are rare and, in my opinion, it is better mixed with cabernet than solo.

Bob, the open mike could be called "Quest for Greenless Carmenere"

Hello, Oswaldo.
Carmenere was originally a Bordeaux, and the French interplanted it with merlot because it has a similar palate weight and plummy profile. Unfortunately, it requires much more time and heat to ripen, so in cooler vintages it was throwing off their cuvees. Instead of doing something sensible like planting it in the Rhone , they ripped it all out and sent some to Chile, mis-identified as merlot.

Interesting bit of history Mary. Thanks. I had assumed that Carmenere grapes were wiped out by the Phylloxera plague back in the 19th century and never replanted. Are you sure about the ripping it out and sending some to Chile part?

I had assumed that Carmenere grapes were wiped out by the Phylloxera plague back in the 19th century and never replanted. Are you sure about the ripping it out and sending some to Chile part?

It was pretty much wiped out in Bordeaux if I understand correctly, however, they key here is that it would have gone over to Chile mixed in with the Cabernets and Merlot pre-phylloxera in the 1850s and 1860s - these dates are often cited as one of the reasons that Chile never got phylloxera - the vinifera vines that came over from France/Germany came before phylloxera hit.

Until the mid-1990s it was always deemed to be Merlot, though why seems strange (for a start, it looks so different to Merlot close to ripening with distinct red stems/leaves) - I don't think that the Chileans ever examined their vines carefully before this time - it was a French viticulturist called in by the Chilean government to inspect various vineyards who identified that what was being cited as Merlot, wasn't actually Merlot - he had to take cuttings back to France to find out exactly what it was.

It really is only just over a decade that site-specific Carmenère has started to be planted in Chile, so I think we will see better and better examples in the future.

Interesting bit of history Mary. Thanks. I had assumed that Carmenere grapes were wiped out by the Phylloxera plague back in the 19th century and never replanted. Are you sure about the ripping it out and sending some to Chile part?

Well that is the legend according to Jancis Robinson, but various French producers have also confirmed to me that (historically speaking, not from their personal experience ) the grape was too difficult to work with. Keeping in mind the devastation caused by the Franco-Prussian War and the World Wars, I'm sure the last thing the French needed was a high-maintenance grape with a tendency to green interplanted with their merlot.

Wink, I am sure you are right about the future. Carmenere has very different growing requirements from merlot, so proper vitification and recognition of its unique qualities may bring it into its own, in time.

Thanks Wink and Mary for the history lesson. Inspired by this thread, I tasted a 2006 Casa Silva Reserva Camanère last night that I describe in my post called "Let's talk about Oak." Check it out if you're interested.

Interesting bit of history Mary. Thanks. I had assumed that Carmenere grapes were wiped out by the Phylloxera plague back in the 19th century and never replanted. Are you sure about the ripping it out and sending some to Chile part?

Well that is the legend according to Jancis Robinson, but various French producers have also confirmed to me that (historically speaking, not from their personal experience ) the grape was too difficult to work with. Keeping in mind the devastation caused by the Franco-Prussian War and the World Wars, I'm sure the last thing the French needed was a high-maintenance grape with a tendency to green interplanted with their merlot.

Wink, I am sure you are right about the future. Carmenere has very different growing requirements from merlot, so proper vitification and recognition of its unique qualities may bring it into its own, in time.

The grape was too difficult to work with. It wasn't suited to the climate in Bordeaux. But when it arrived in Chile and was planted primarily in the Maipo Valley, which is very warm and exceptionally dry, to the point that it historically depended on run-off from the Andes that was diverted through the vineyard rows, it did very well.

And the comment about Carmenere doing best when it is blended with Cabernet is quite astute. That's why the first Carmenere to enter the US, the first Carmenere to be varietally identified on a label (under it's other name, Grande Vidure) was blended with Cabernet Sauvignon. And it was not in the least weedy; defnitely more in the velvety zone.