Lost to Found in Chile: Intro to 6 Carménère + What to Pair

Carménère has quite a lost to found story. On this day, Nov. 24, 1994, everyone in Chile thought it was Merlot until ampelographer pointed out why Chilean Merlot vines and wines were so different when he found them to be  Carménère, a grape originally from France which was thought to have been just about lost during the pholxera epidemic! Now November 24 is known as Carmenere Day to commemorate this important event. Read all about that Carménère story here in “Extinct No More”.

But there’s much more to Carménère than a case of mistaken identity and a fun story to tell at table: with regional differences to be explored, modern interpretations and elegant herbal elements being produced, with a range of price points from affordable to splurge worthy, and with many potential food pairings from Thanksgiving turkey leftovers to Christmas and other holiday dinners to traditional Chilean dishes like chicken chimichurri and beef stew with squash, Carménère is a wine that you should get in your glass.  Continue reading →