The Great #Carmenere Caper #Wine
Celebrate World #CarmenereDay
Carménère, originally from Bordeaux, was thought to have disappeared. Although it was thought to have been Merlot and mistaken for about 21 years, Carménère has made a comeback! Carménère, which gets its name from the French word carmin, actually means ‘crimson,’ due to its deep reddish color. The grape is a dark, deep purple colored grape varietal that has been rediscovered in Chile, and is, in fact, the largest produced by volume in Chile. Carménère produces a dry red wine, rich in berry fruits and spice and is often used to blend with other wines.
Carménère was featured as the selection for the #wininghourchat on 11/24, which happened to fall on #CarmenereDay. The chat group was honored to have Wines of Chile (@DrinkChile) participate and share some insights on Carménère’s history, characteristics and pairings.
The Wining Hour Selection:
To celebrate World Carménère Day, we choose a 2011 Primus Carménère from Colchagua, Chile. Colchagua is one of South America’s most promising wine regions, as it is home to Chile’s top red wines. The Primus Carménère was dark crimson, almost purple to the eye, like black licorice, tobacco and peppery chocolate to the nose and earthy, dark chocolate covered plums on the palate. It was smooth with a moderate finish. Although we have not had lots of experience with Carménère in the past, the Primus Carménère had a distinctive, balanced taste.
Carménère pairs well with smoked and grilled meats. This one was sipped alongside a grilled steak. While it was decent, I think it would actually have paired better with pork or even alone. Exploring other pairing options is on the agenda for my next Carménère. This particular one needed to be decanted to open up the flavor, and we did so for about an hour. This wine had 14.5% alcohol level by volumn, and made for a nice relaxing #CarménèreDay.
To learn more about Carmenere, visit:
It is clear to see that Carménère has certainly made a comeback and is here to stay!
Have you tasted Carménère? What was your experience?
About The Wining Hour
The Wining Hour writes about wine, Italy and global travel. The Wining Hour boutique caters to wine-lovers across the globe by offering all wine-related items. The Wining Hour markets unique wine décor and furnishings, accessories, glassware, barware, wine racks, storage and cooling options, games, gifts and more. The Wining Hour also hosts #wininghourchat on Twitter (@wininghourchat) on Tuesday’s at 9 p.m. EST.(For more, see links at the top of this page)
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Planted, harvested and aged in NY. I have a background in education and marketing, with a love and passion for travel...and all things wine. In addition to writing about wine, I also maintain an online wine boutique (thewininghour.com) that caters to the winelover, as well as the weekly vinous winechat (#WiningHourChat) on Twitter (see page for more info).
