Wine Wednesday- Carmenere

I was thinking about some new features that I could bring to the blog and thought what about wine Wednesday. Not to be confused with what we called Wednesday in College The extent of my wine drinking in college was Arbor Mist and Boones Farm, but I guess you need to start somewhere!

Every Wednesday I will pick a wine to write about, describe a little about the wine, where it comes from, what it tastes like and if I would try another bottle. This week’s wine is Carmenere, it isn’t that well known but is a great go to red and can be surprisingly affordable.

Carmenere was traditionally grown in the Medoc region of France to produce Petit Verdot but about 150 years ago Chilean vintners found that it was very similar to Merlot and would grow well in the Central Valley. The grape is a deep dark purple and has very noticeable flavors of berries and spice.

I had a Carmenere with dinner on Monday night, since it often pairs well with red meat and corn based dishes. A 2009 Misiones D Rengo, this is grown in the Rapel Valley and retails around $12-$18. I liked how this paired with the gnocchi and hanger steak and was just a very drinkable wine.

I have found that I really enjoy Chilean wines and will continue to try new flavors!