The flight of Carmenère-based reds was perhaps the most eye-opening of the evening. The variety, a major player in the wines of Bordeaux’s 1855 Classification, virtually disappeared in the region after phylloxera. Challenged by grafting onto rootstock at home, it thrived in the vinelands of Chile, where it had arrived mid-1800s along with consultants from Bordeaux, when wealthy locals decided they needed vineyard estates in Santiago.
Ampelographers from France discovered Carmenère in Chile’s vineyards in the early 1990s, a variety that was not officially acknowledged at the time. With the demand for Merlot in the US market driven by a 60-Minutes report on red wine and health, Chileans were not eager to repackage their Merlot as Carmenère. At the time, they called this late-ripening variety “Merlot Chileno,” and began to plant more of the early ripening “Merlot Merlot” to catch up to the market.