Carmenère – Little Known, but Delicious

When I first heard of the grape, Carmenère, I thought it, like Symphony, was a varietal bred by the viticultural department at the University of California at Davis. Then I received a newsletter from Guenoc Winery and read a fascinating story, written by Karen Melander-Magoon about her efforts – eventually successful in 1994 – to have Carmenère, a disappearing Bordeaux variety, certified for legal shipment into the United States.


When she first became interested in Carmenère (also known as Grand Vidure) Karen was told of the efforts of Louis Pierre Pradier, a research scientist from Blanquefort, France, whose passion for the grape had led him to spend 25 years saving Carmenère from extinction. It was from Louis Pierre that Karen obtained cuttings to be sent to Canada and New York for a depressingly long three years of testing for disease and pests and the subsequent cloning to produce enough Carmenère for planting at Guenoc. According to all she had discovered, Karen knew Guenoc’s Tephra Ridge vineyards had the right terroir and it proved to be the perfect site for the planting of two acres (900 vines).

Although Karen knew of the small, endangered acreage of Carmenère in Bordeaux, she was surprised to learn that, due to a mistake in the identity of some vines sent to Chile as Merlot, there was Carmenère growing in a number of Chilean vineyards. In 1997 she and her husband, Orville, traveled to Chile to check out the vineyards and had the opportunity to taste the wine. “We were impressed with the rich color,” Karen recalls, “the depth of flavor and deep plushness in the mouth.”

I’m glad Karen has brought the grape to the U.S. I’m glad the nursery sent the wrong vines to Chile, and I’m glad that once the mistake was discovered the vineyardists didn’t pull them all out. If they had, we’d all miss some very nice wine.