Carmenere Part 1

Welcome to Vine to Wine this is your host Linda Moran. I have been cruising the internet lately and looking at everything from my favorite musicians to you guessed wine revues. And it seems as though everyone is going crazy over Carmenere!

Although during the 19^th century Carmenere was a grape widely grown in the French wine regions of Bordeaux, Medoc and Graves, but it was less than successful in these areas due to its susceptibility to the root louse phylloxera, and has been replaced mostly by Merlot.  The Carmenere wines we are most typically drinking these days are coming from Chile and Argentina. It has been growing in Chile for over 150 years and is thriving due to the fact that Chile has never had huge problems with phylloxera. Unlike the French, much of Chile’s vines are still growing on native root stock. For many years Carmenere was grown in the same vineyards and “field blended” with Merlot. It is also a great compliment when blended with Cabernet Sauvignon. And although the three types of grapes are very complimentary to one another, most recently Carmenere is being singled out and made as a primary varietal wine by itself. Join me tomorrow as we continue our exploration of Carmenere. Visit our website and give us your suggestions for program topics, your wine questions and comments email Linda at vine to wine dot net and thanks for joining me on today’s Vine to Wine.