Carmenère

Carmenère is one of wine’s great imposters, masquerading as Merlot in Chile for over a hundred years, and Cabernet Franc in Northern Italy for just as long. Still regarded by many Italian growers as a clone of Cabernet Franc it was genetically verified as Bordeaux’s nearly extinct Carmenère over a decade ago. Sharing Cabernet family characteristics, the wines often have dark berry and spice notes with deep colour and relatively soft tannins.