Wanted: fighting varietal

WINEMAKER Aurelio Montes turns his four-wheel drive up the steep hillside and along the terraced vineyard rows that form a wide bowl around his new winery in Chile’s celebrated Apalta region. As the vehicle bounces along the rutted path, he describes the challenges of cultivating grapes on terrain that is best farmed by mules.

But there is no alternative, he says. If Chile wants to be a world-class wine region, everything must be pushed to the extreme. Montes, a partner in Chile’s critically acclaimed winery Vina Montes, has not only carved out these treacherous terraces in Apalta, but has also pioneered growing grapes near Chile’s Pacific coast in cactus-studded Marchigue.

And in both places, Montes planted acres of Carmenere grapes.

Carmenere? The obscure French grape cultivated only in Chile is taking over this South American wine region. Between 1999 and 2004, acreage devoted to Carmenere increased 300%, according to statistics from the Chilean wine industry. The reason is simple: Chilean vintners, who export most of the wine they produce, believe Carmenere will be the wine that finally earns them some oenological bragging rights on the global market. This year, Montes premiered Purple Angel, an ultra-premium Carmenere. Every winery in the country is working on its own high-end Carmenere.

“We make extremely good Cabs in Chile, but so does California and Australia and there are always the French,” says Hernan Gras, owner of Vina MontGras in the Colchagua Valley. “Carmenere is a symbol for the country, like Malbec is for Argentina and Zinfandel is for the United States. It is not important yet to our sales, but we want it to be important.”

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The value of a standout

FOR the Chilean wine industry to move beyond its niche as a “value” wine region, Chilean vintners believe it will take more than cutting edge viticulture and technology. They’re gambling that the ultimate marketing advantage will be gained by showing that Chile has a unique varietal.

“It absolutely is important for Chile to have an exciting new red wine that is all its own,” says California wine industry analyst Jon Fredrikson. Worldwide success depends not only on making higher quality wines of all kinds, but also on creating a buzz around Carmenere, a wine that consumers can’t get from other regions, he says.

Chilean vintners are introducing new Carmeneres just in time, industry analysts say. Chilean Cabernet Sauvignons may have been the value wines of the 1990s, but $5-a-bottle Australian Yellow Tail was elbowing them aside by the start of this decade. U.S. consumption of wine has climbed, but Chilean wine sales in the U.S. remain flat, hovering around 6 million cases a year since 2000, according to Fredrikson.

Still, low-acid, slow-ripening Carmenere seems an odd choice for such a pivotal role. But Chile didn’t have a lot of options. Carmenere is the only grape unique to the country that can hold its own to make a stand-alone varietal.

The forgotten sixth grape in the classic Bordeaux blend, Carmenere was wiped out in France by the phylloxera blight in the late 1800s, and it was never resurrected there. Except for its rich purple color, it was dismissed as insignificant to the blend.

In Chile, Carmenere had arrived with wealthy French colonists in the 1850s, safely removed from Europe’s phylloxera blight. Over the years, it lost identity as a variety, gradually becoming confused with Merlot and ultimately forgotten. Not until 1994 did scientists determine that Carmenere was a separate grape variety in Chile. Ever since, vintners have been sorting through their vines to determine where the Merlot stops and the Carmenere starts.

And once the possible advantage of having a unique national varietal was understood, the race was joined by every Chilean winery.

“Lots of people became very enthusiastic,” says Montes. “Everyone planted Carmenere everywhere, some in the correct place, some incorrect.”

The result, says Gras, has been inconsistent quality. “There is good Carmenere and bad. There doesn’t seem to be much middle ground. It makes the fight to convince consumers more difficult.”

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Skeptical retailers

THOUGH the American wine media has been enthusiastic about many of the pricier new Carmeneres, Southern California retailers have been slow to stock them, and several wine stores have dropped Chilean wines altogether. In a world exploding with high-quality, low-cost wines, some wine sellers say they aren’t convinced that Chile can regain its lost momentum, with or without a varietal it calls its own.

A recent tasting panel at The Times sampled a dozen Carmeneres available in Los Angeles area wine stores, and the results were disappointing. Only a couple of the wines showed well, and many of them were actually disagreeable (see Page 7).

Still, Carmenere is selling well in other parts of the country, particularly in Florida, the state with the strongest demand for Chilean wine. Carmeneres accounted for 17% of Chile’s 2004 wine sales in the U.S.

“We are still discovering this grape, still trying to understand how it grows, where it should be planted, how to handle it,” says Patricio Tapia, author of “Descorchados,” an annual Chilean wine guide, and a consultant to Wines of Chile, an industry trade group.

At its best, Carmenere delivers sweet chocolate and spicy flavors with soft tannins and full fruit flavors, Tapia says. So far, Apalta and Peumo appear to be the best regions in which to grow these grapes.

But the stellar wines are still the exceptions. “Carmenere is a really challenging grape,” Tapia says. It produces a thick canopy of leaves that shades the grapes from the sun. “You get that vegetal character that no one likes. It’s easy for these wines to taste green. It’s also easy for them to be overripe and jammy. Harvest date is crucial. And getting that right is a work in progress in Chile,” he says.

Chile’s vigorous clay soils add to the challenge. “Carmenere needs water, so a little bit of clay in the soil to hold moisture is good. But too much clay and you get the leaves, so you also need gravel and sand,” Tapia says. And no matter what you do, the grapes will ripen very late in the season, the equivalent of November in the U.S. That’s too late to sustain any natural acids and well into the rainy season when the crop can be damaged by a sudden shower, he says.

Blending Carmenere with other wines is one solution. “The most astonishing profiles of the varietal come from the blends,” says Diego Bigongiari, editorial director of “Austral Spectator,” an annual guide to South American wines. “Several winemakers insist that Carmenere should not be vinified by itself but blended with Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot to give it more complexity.”

Tapia agrees. “These [winemakers] believe that Carmenere’s soft tannins and low acidity need something like Cab to obtain some balance, to fill the gaps.”

Chile requires that any wine labeled as a single varietal contain at least 85% of that grape variety by volume. Even when wines are labeled solely Carmenere, 15% is almost always wine from other grapes. Montes’ Purple Angel, priced at $50 or more, contains 8% Petit Verdot for added acid and tannins.

“Carmenere will always have a partner in our blends to give it structure,” Montes says. To introduce Carmenere to consumers, Montes first offered a 70% Cabernet, 30% Carmenere wine at around $10 a bottle. “It is more approachable for consumers who don’t know Carmenere,” he says.

Concha y Toro, Chile’s largest wine company, whose sales account for half of all Chilean wine sold in the U.S., introduced Carmenere in the States with its premium brand, Terrunyo Carmenere. It’s a blend with Cabernet (12%) and Cabernet Franc (3%).”We make only 1,000 cases of Terrunyo,” says Sebastian Lopez, a company marketing executive. By leading with a limited production $30 wine, it was easier to sell the $10 Casillero del Diablo, still considered a premium wine, Lopez says.

Carmenere sales are soaring for Concha y Toro. In 2002, Carmenere amounted to only 1% of the company’s total sales. Three years later, it had grown to 10% of sales. And in the U.S., it was 17% of sales, or 170,000 cases. “It is more important for us than Merlot,” Lopez says. The company is developing more high-end Carmeneres to sustain the sales momentum.

Unlike most wine producing countries, Chile has always had an export-driven wine industry, with premium vintners such as Montes selling the vast majority -- if not all -- of their production overseas. That reliance on foreign sales exaggerates the demands of the global marketplace, particularly the need to establish a strong identity. Rather than adhering to the traditional growth pattern for wines of local popularity followed by wider discovery, Carmenere’s development is the result of a marketing imperative.

“Carmenere makes the point about what is Chilean wine. Chile is a wonderful place to grow grapes, yes. But it is the only place that grows Carmenere,” Montes says.

While it is still just a curiosity in important markets such as the U.S., “we are wise to continue the work,” Montes says.

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Pretty, but pretty uneven too

RECENTLY, The Times tasting panel met for a blind tasting of Chilean Carmeneres. Joining me on the panel were food editor Leslie Brenner and restaurant critic S. Irene Virbila. In general, these wines were lean and mean. They were out of balance, lacked complexity and were riddled with unpleasant flavors. The expensive wines showed no better than the less expensive. One positive note: The wines had a pretty, dark red-purple color. We agreed that only one wine stood out as exceptional: the 2005 MontGras Reserva.

Note that although all the wines we tasted are available in local stores, many wine shops in Los Angeles don’t carry Carmenere wines. Also, the 2003 Trewa Reserve Carmenere ($13) we tasted was corked, so we did not include it in the notes. Wines are listed by vintage; blends using less than 85% Carmenere are listed separately.

Carmeneres

2005 MontGras Reserva Carmenere. From the Colchagua Valley and consulting winemaker Paul Hobbs, the only balanced wine of the bunch. With a cherryblackberry nose, this low acid, dry wine delivers a mouthful of fresh black cherries with a touch of chocolate. Available at Mel & Rose Wine and Spirits in West Hollywood, (323) 655-5557, about $13.

2003 Concha y Toro Terrunyo Carmenere. This wine, our second favorite, is 85% Carmenere from the Repel Valley plus 12% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Cabernet Franc from the Maipo Valley. A cherry syrup nose, it tastes of black fruits with firm tannins and a short finish. At Fireside Cellars in Santa Monica, (310) 393-2888, $33.

2003 Puerto Viejo Reserve Carmenere. This pleasant enough Carmenere from the Curico Valley has a sweet red-fruit aroma reminiscent of Merlot and a thin cherry flavor that isn’t as sweet as the nose would suggest. At Vendome Liquor in Studio City, (818) 766-5272, about $10.

2003 Montes Purple Angel Carmenere. This is the first vintage of this wine from the Apalta region of the Colchagua appellation. Weedy on the nose, but tastes of sweet dark fruits. Very harsh on the back of the throat. At Fireside Cellars in Santa Monica, (310) 393-2888, about $60.

2003 Santa Ema Barrel Selection Carmenere. From the Cachapoal Valley. Weedy and stinky on the nose, it tastes of purple ink. Big tannins and an abrasive finish that kicks in just when you think there’s no finish at all. At Cost Plus World Market stores, www.worldmarket.com, about $11.

2002 Santa Ema Gran Reserva Carmenere. This Carmenere from the Rapel Valley has little aroma with an exaggerated acidity and a bitter finish. At Beverage Warehouse in Marina del Rey, (310) 306-2822, about $13.

2002 Miguel Torres Reserva Carmenere. Smells and tastes of rubber, with a mercifully short finish. At Vendome Liquor in Studio City, (818) 766-5272, about $10.

Blends

2004 Montes Cabernet Sauvignon/Carmenere. A blend of 70% Cabernet and 30% Carmenere from the Apalta region of the Colchagua appellation, this wine has a chocolate nose with a touch of vanilla. Cloyingly sweet, it coats the tongue. At Beverage Warehouse in Marina del Rey, (310) 306-2822, and Beverages & More in Pasadena, (626) 356-9462, about $12.

2002 Casa Lapostolle Clos Apalta. Michel Rolland was the consulting winemaker for this red table wine, a blend of 70% Carmenere/Merlot and 30% Cabernet from the Apalta region of the Colchagua appellation. It’s overly sweet, yet lean and weedy with rough tannins and a disagreeable aftertaste. At Fireside Cellars in Santa Monica, (310) 393-2888, about $100.

-- Corie Brown