Since I’ve been on the front line of this game I’ve always really enjoyed helping people to discover new wines outside of the norm, away from the standard Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot and Cabernet. Carménère is one of those varieties I like to start with because it’s not a million miles away from Merlot, so it’s not a big step for even infrequent wine drinkers. In fact, you may already know, for many years Carménère was mistaken for Merlot in Chile.

As reported in Harpers Wine & Spirit Reviews last week, a very prominent Master of Wine, Tim Atkin MW, claimed Carménère is now ready to move into the “Premiership” of grape varieties, even if not quite making it into the “Champions League” just yet.

Carménère will produce quite robust reds with high tannins. Atkin was pointing to the fact that the tannin and greenness of the variety is the most difficult thing for winemakers to manage. With such an improvement in Chilean winemaking as a whole over the last twenty years, the bar has been raised considerably.

South American wine expert and fellow MW, Peter Richards, agreed the advances in Carmenere now meant the wines were largely unrecognisable to the ones being produced only a few years ago. It was now possible, he argued, to start assessing Carmenere not on whether it was a green or not, but on where it was being made and by who.

Extract, Harpers Review article 17/01/12

Where it is made and who it is made by is an important issue when it comes to judging wine from a critical point of view. Those that have this sense of place, or “terroir”, or have the signature of the winemaker written all over them, are prized for having the x-factor. That little extra point of difference or unique character they have over other wines in their category. They must stand out from the barrage of average wine and winemakers are now achieving this with the Carménère grape.

Santa Alicia’s Reserva Carménère is my weapon of choice for many a curious wine drinker stumbling across our shop. It gets somewhat more serious with the chocolate blockbusting Gran Reserva Carménère.

Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Shiraz have traditionally been the big red players in the global wine market. There are a number of reasons these varietals have gained such popularity, one factor being that they are all relatively easy to cultivate, another being that they simply produce excellent wines. But if you are the sort of person that likes to explore or have a break from the norm, it’s time to try Carmenère.

Widely grown in the Médoc in the 18th century, Carmenère produced exceptionally good wine but was abandoned due to susceptibility to coulure and the resulting low yields. In the 19th century, cuttings of Merlot were taken to Chile, however it was later found that the majority of these vines were in fact Carmenère (up to 90% in certain vineyards). They look so similar, and don’t taste miles apart either, but they ripen at different times. So a field of Merlot and Carmenère vines harvested at the same time often produced a bit of a monster wine.

The fascinating part of this story is that Chile only officially recognised Carmenère as recently as 1996, and it has only been able to label wines as Carmenère since 1998. In this time many Chilean winemakers have come to grips with managing this wonderful grape. Like Pinot Noir, it’s fussy. Between winter and harvest time, too much rain can play havoc with the final flavours, and on the flip-side, a site that is too hot can off set the balance with too much alcohol. But Chile has many sites that are perfectly suited, and it looks like what is a loss to France, is a gain for Chile.

A big, full-bodied wine, Carmenère makes powerful, spicy reds with low acidity, fairly high tannins and a velvety texture. Expect flavours of dark, sweet fruit (blackberry and plum) and perhaps green bell pepper and green bean when under-ripe.

Who knows, had it worked out in France, Carmenère could have been rolling of the tongue as easily as Merlot. Maybe some day it will. Just don’t believe that it’s only the noble grapes varieties that can produce stunning wine.

There’s no better place to start than with Santa Alicia’s Carmenère.

This week I have a recipe that has a little heat and some unusual flavours in there to try and confuse the boys as they have just been getting the matches spot on. In fairness I have been going easy on them with classics such as beef wellington and some simple steamed salmon so time to up the ante and see if they have the palate to match something up to this little beef in black bean sauce recipe. The recipe isn’t really that madly spicy but there are some strong flavours in there with the beans and garlic standing out so I would imagine it would take something pretty robust to stand up to this. Over to you boys…..

Mike’s wine match:

Thanks Niall, we love a challenge! Chinese food can often be quite tricky, not least because, unlike European cuisine, recipes didn’t evolve alongside local wine-making. Nevertheless, underlying food matching principles can point us in the right direction.

The strength of flavours in this dish, and the fact that it’s beef, would point us firmly towards a full-bodied red wine. There is an argument that a strongly aromatic white wine, like a New Zealand Sauvignon, could be the perfect anti-dote for all that richness and flavour, but I think red’s a safer bet for a synergistic match in this case.

The dish is quite spicy, so I wouldn’t match it with a spicy wine, I think you’d have too much going on. For that reason, and needing something full-bodied, I’d go for a good Argentinian Malbec or a Chilean Carmenere. This Santa Alicia is incredibly smooth and packed with depth and strength of flavour, so will stand up to the rich black bean sauce without blowing your head off with spice.

If you want to try the anti-dote option, go for something with tons of flavour and character (beware of cheap imitations of good New Zealand Sauvi!). This Waipara Springs is one of my favourites from the up-and-coming Waipara region and I reckon could cope well with the rich flavours of Niall’s dish.

All you need now are the chopsticks!

Niall Harbison is Co-Founder and Master Chef at Look and Taste.