Principal red grape
Carmenère
How to read this
Capitals mark the stressed syllable. The French r comes from the back of the throat. The recording is the reference.
Carmenère is a black grape of the old Médoc, a child of Cabernet Franc with a second parent still debated; Bordeaux kept a few hectares while Chile rediscovered it in 1994.
Carmenère is a black grape, listed among the red grapes of the Bordeaux AOC rules. DNA markers show that Cabernet Franc is one of its parents. The other is still debated: Jean-Michel Boursiquot and colleagues proposed Gros Cabernet in 2009, and a 2013 study led by Thierry Lacombe proposed Moural. VIVC, the variety catalog of the Julius Kühn-Institut, gives both and says more markers or other proofs are needed. The pedigree diagram in Wine Grapes (Robinson, Harding, and Vouillamoz, 2012) draws Cabernet Franc and Gros Cabernet.
By 1816 André Jullien, author of the Manuel du sommelier, counted the “carmenère” among the 4 vines that alone peopled the Médoc vineyards of the first red wines. William Franck, the Bordeaux wine merchant whose Traité sur les vins du Médoc first appeared in 1824, called it “la Carmenère ou la grosse Vidure”. Armand d’Armailhacq, a Médoc proprietor, set it apart from both Cabernets in his 1855 book on the vines and wines of the Médoc: slightly oval berries, red pedicels, often 3 seeds, a taste he judged better than both Cabernets, and a flower “extremely delicate and very subject to coulure” (“extrêmement délicate et fort sujette à la coulure”). The “carmenère” of these books is most likely today’s Carmenère; VIVC also files the name under Cabernet Franc, so the identity stays at likely.
Auguste Petit-Lafitte, professor of agriculture of the Gironde, noted in 1868 that a 1784 catalog from the Pauillac district knew only 2 Cabernets, while the Médoc of his day recognized a third, the “Cabernelle ou Carmenère”. By 1893 Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, wrote of Château d’Angludet that it was planted mainly in carmenère, “a vine once far more widespread than today, which did much for the renown of the wines of the Médoc” (“cépage autrefois beaucoup plus répandu qu’aujourd’hui et qui a puissamment contribué à la renommée des vins du Médoc”). Figures from Galet, as presented by Julia Riffault in 2017, give Bordeaux 15 hectares in 1958 and 3 in 1988.
The turn came in Chile. Carmenère was rediscovered there in 1994, where it had been confused with Merlot, as Moncada and colleagues wrote in 2005; Fulvia Farinelli’s 2012 thesis credits the identification to Jean-Michel Boursiquot. In 2001 Hinrichsen, Bowers, Boursiquot, Meredith, and colleagues used DNA typing to tell Carmenère from similar vines. Back in Bordeaux, the Galet and FranceAgriMer series counts 40.7 hectares in 2015.
Oldest record in my library: André Jullien, Topographie de tous les vignobles connus, 1816
The family
Carmenère
- Boursiquot et al. 2009; Lacombe et al. 2013 (both VIVC hypotheses include Cabernet Franc); VIVC 2109
- Boursiquot et al. 2009, AJGWR 15:144-155 (VIVC hypothesis 1 of 2); Robinson, Harding & Vouillamoz, Wine Grapes (2012), pedigree diagram
- Lacombe et al. 2013, TAG 126:401-414 (VIVC hypothesis 2 of 2)
The discovery: In 2001, Hinrichsen and colleagues used DNA markers to show that vines planted as Merlot in Chilean vineyards included Carmenère.
The names
As the Gironde books wrote it: cabernelle, carmenelle, Grande-Vidure, grand Carmenet, Carbouet, Carbenet, grosse Vidure.
Other names in VIVC: Bouton Blanc, Cabernelle, Cabernet, Cabernet Carmenere, Carbonet (Medoc), Carmenegre, Carmenelle, Carmeneyre, Grand Carmenet, Grand Vidure, Grande Vidure, Grande Vuidure, Grosse Vidure.
Old names: Bouton-Blanc (open), Carbouet (open), Carmenère (likely), Carmenet (open), Grande vidure (open), Grosse vidure (open)
In today’s rules
Principal (red) in 14 of the appellations and designations on this site; principal (rosé) in 1; principal (sparkling) in 1; accessory (red) in 12.
- Principal · red
- Bordeaux (red and clairet), Bordeaux Supérieur, Graves, Graves de Vayres, Haut-Médoc, Listrac-Médoc, Margaux, Moulis, Médoc, Pauillac, Pessac-Léognan, Saint-Estèphe, Saint-Julien, Saint-Émilion
- Principal · rosé
- Bordeaux
- Principal · sparkling
- Crémant de Bordeaux
- Accessory · red
- Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux (under 10%), Canon Fronsac (to 10% each), Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux (to 10%), Côtes de Bordeaux (under 10%), Côtes de Bourg (to 5% of the vines), Entre-deux-Mers, Francs Côtes de Bordeaux, Fronsac, Lalande-de-Pomerol (to 10%), Lussac-Saint-Émilion (to 10% of the vines), Montagne-Saint-Émilion (to 10%), Puisseguin-Saint-Émilion (to 10% of the vines)
Area planted
- 15 ha planted area, Bordeaux/Gironde, 1958
Julia Riffault, 'Recensement, préservation et valorisation des cépages modestes du Bordelais', Rencontres des cépages modestes, November 11, 2017, slides 'Évolution à Bordeaux de 1958 à 2015'; source printed on slides: 'Cépages et vignobles de France, Tome III, Galet 2006 + données France AgriMer 2017', https://rencontres-des-cepages-modestes.com/rencontres/2017/2017_documents/cepagemodestes_bordelais.pdf, accessed 2026-10-12 - 10 ha planted area, Bordeaux/Gironde, 1968
Julia Riffault, 'Recensement, préservation et valorisation des cépages modestes du Bordelais', Rencontres des cépages modestes, November 11, 2017, slides 'Évolution à Bordeaux de 1958 à 2015'; source printed on slides: 'Cépages et vignobles de France, Tome III, Galet 2006 + données France AgriMer 2017', https://rencontres-des-cepages-modestes.com/rencontres/2017/2017_documents/cepagemodestes_bordelais.pdf, accessed 2026-10-12 - 14 ha planted area, Bordeaux/Gironde, 1979
Julia Riffault, 'Recensement, préservation et valorisation des cépages modestes du Bordelais', Rencontres des cépages modestes, November 11, 2017, slides 'Évolution à Bordeaux de 1958 à 2015'; source printed on slides: 'Cépages et vignobles de France, Tome III, Galet 2006 + données France AgriMer 2017', https://rencontres-des-cepages-modestes.com/rencontres/2017/2017_documents/cepagemodestes_bordelais.pdf, accessed 2026-10-12 - 3 ha planted area, Bordeaux/Gironde, 1988
Julia Riffault, 'Recensement, préservation et valorisation des cépages modestes du Bordelais', Rencontres des cépages modestes, November 11, 2017, slides 'Évolution à Bordeaux de 1958 à 2015'; source printed on slides: 'Cépages et vignobles de France, Tome III, Galet 2006 + données France AgriMer 2017', https://rencontres-des-cepages-modestes.com/rencontres/2017/2017_documents/cepagemodestes_bordelais.pdf, accessed 2026-10-12 - 4.3 ha planted area, Bordeaux/Gironde, 1999
Julia Riffault, 'Recensement, préservation et valorisation des cépages modestes du Bordelais', Rencontres des cépages modestes, November 11, 2017, slides 'Évolution à Bordeaux de 1958 à 2015'; source printed on slides: 'Cépages et vignobles de France, Tome III, Galet 2006 + données France AgriMer 2017', https://rencontres-des-cepages-modestes.com/rencontres/2017/2017_documents/cepagemodestes_bordelais.pdf, accessed 2026-10-12 - 40.7 ha planted area, Bordeaux/Gironde, 2015
Julia Riffault, 'Recensement, préservation et valorisation des cépages modestes du Bordelais', Rencontres des cépages modestes, November 11, 2017, slides 'Évolution à Bordeaux de 1958 à 2015'; source printed on slides: 'Cépages et vignobles de France, Tome III, Galet 2006 + données France AgriMer 2017', https://rencontres-des-cepages-modestes.com/rencontres/2017/2017_documents/cepagemodestes_bordelais.pdf, accessed 2026-10-12 - 77 ha planted area, Bordeaux, 2022
Wine Scholar Guild / M. Gorman-McAdams MW, Bordeaux Masters study manual, 5th edition (2024), Unit 2, pp. 41-47 (secondary textbook)
Stands out at
In the books
“cabernet franc and above all carmenère”
cabernet franc et surtout carmenère
“With vines of first choice in the following proportions: 7/12 cabernet-sauvignon, 1/12 malbec, 1/12 merlot, 1/12 verdot, 1/12 carmenère, 1/12 cabernet franc and other fine grape varieties.”
par des plants de premier choix dans les proportions suivantes : 7/12 cabernet - sauvignon , 1/12 malbec , 1/12 merlot , 1/12 verdot , 1/12 carmenère , 1/12 cabernet franc et autres cépages fins .
“The vines planted are cabernet-sauvignon for 70%, and cabernet franc, verdot, carmenère, and malbec for the rest”
Les cépages plantés sont : le cabernet - sauvignon pour 70 % , le cabernet franc , le verdot , la carmenère et le malbec pour le surplus
My library records it planted at 16 estates, and 3 of them have a page here:
Timeline
- 1816Jullien lists 'la carmenère' with 'le carmenet', 'le malbek' and 'le verdot' as the only vines of the top Médoc vineyards.
André Jullien, Topographie de tous les vignobles connus, 1st ed., 1816, ch. XX 'Guienne et Gascogne', §I Gironde, pp. 198-201 - 1824Franck names 'la Carmenère' among the best red varieties of the Gironde.
Wilhelm Franck, Traité sur les vins du Médoc, 1st ed., 1824 - 1869Phylloxera is found on vine roots at Floirac, near Bordeaux, on June 11, 1869; the vines had looked sick for 2 or 3 years.
Charles Cocks & Édouard Féret, Bordeaux et ses vins classés par ordre de mérite, 5th ed., 1886, section 'Phylloxera', p. 35 (same text in the 1883 English ed., and 6th ed. 1893) - 1958Only about 15 ha remain in Bordeaux; 3 ha by 1988; 40.7 ha by 2015.
J. Riffault 2017 (Rencontres des cépages modestes), citing Galet 2006 and FranceAgriMer 2017, https://rencontres-des-cepages-modestes.com/rencontres/2017/2017_documents/cepagemodestes_bordelais.pdf - 1994Carmenère is rediscovered in Chile, where it had been confused with Merlot; the identification is credited to the French ampelographer Jean-Michel Boursiquot.
X. Moncada, L. Muñoz, D. Merdinoglu, M.H. Castro, P. Hinrichsen, 'Clonal polymorphism in the red wine cultivars Carmenère and Cabernet Sauvignon', Acta Horticulturae 689: 513-520, 2005, https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2005.689.63 (abstract); Fulvia Farinelli, Natural resources, innovation and export growth: the wine industry in Chile and Argentina, PhD thesis, Maastricht, 2012, doi 10.26481/dis.20121218ff, ch. 4 - 2012Pedigree shown as Cabernet Franc × Gros Cabernet.
Pedigree diagram as printed in Robinson, Harding & Vouillamoz, Wine Grapes (2012)
In the lab
More than 510 studies and theses in the Bordeaux Reviews library mention this grape.
- Genome-wide characterisation of extant clonal diversity in Chilean Carménère
Jadran F. García, Noé Cochetel, Jimena Balic, Samuel Barros, Rosa Elia Figueroa-Balderas, Álvaro Castro, et al., 2026 - Heat waves reveal additive genetic effects leading to sunburn resilience of grapevine berries
Tom Heinekamp, Franco Röckel, Katja Herzog, Oliver Trapp, Reinhard Töpfer, F. Schwander, 2025 - Characterization of varietal effects on the acidity and pH of grape berries for selection of varieties better adapted to climate change
Marc Plantevin, Yoann Merpault, Julien Lecourt, Agnès Destrac-Irvine, Lucile Dijsktra, Cornelis van Leeuwen, 2024 - Etude de l'arôme fruité des vins rouges via les interactions perceptives entre composés volatils d'intérêt dans le contexte de changement climatique pour le vignoble bordelais
Justine Garbay, 2024 - Gradient of grapevine varietal susceptibility to esca
Pierre Gastou, Lucas Etienne, Lucia Guérin-Dubrana, Chloé Delmas, 2024
Sources
- Röckel et al. (2026): Vitis International Variety Catalogue, www.vivc.de, accessed October 2026 (passport 2109, Carmenère; pedigree bibliography; Cabernet Franc passport 1927 synonym list)
- Boursiquot, J.-M., Lacombe, T., Laucou, V., et al., 'Parentage of Merlot and related winegrape cultivars of southwestern France: discovery of the missing link', Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research 15 (2):144-155, 2009, doi 10.1111/j.1755-0238.2008.00041.x
- Lacombe, T., Boursiquot, J.-M., Laucou, V., et al., 'Large-scale parentage analysis in an extended set of grapevine cultivars (Vitis vinifera L.)', Theoretical and Applied Genetics 126 (2):401-414, 2013, doi 10.1007/s00122-012-1988-2
- Robinson, Harding & Vouillamoz, Wine Grapes, 2012, pedigree diagram
- INAO, cahier des charges AOC Bordeaux, section V.1 'Encépagement', https://extranet.inao.gouv.fr/fichier/CDC-Bordeaux.pdf, accessed October 2026
- Hinrichsen, P., Narváez, C., Bowers, J. E., Boursiquot, J. M., Valenzuela, J., Muñoz, C., Meredith, C. P., 'Distinguishing Carmenère from Similar Cultivars by DNA Typing', American Journal of Enology and Viticulture 52 (4):396-399, 2001
- X. Moncada, L. Muñoz, D. Merdinoglu, M.H. Castro, P. Hinrichsen, 'Clonal polymorphism in the red wine cultivars Carmenère and Cabernet Sauvignon', Acta Horticulturae 689:513-520, 2005, doi 10.17660/ActaHortic.2005.689.63
- Fulvia Farinelli, Natural resources, innovation and export growth: the wine industry in Chile and Argentina, PhD thesis, Maastricht, 2012, ch. 4
- André Jullien, Topographie de tous les vignobles connus, 1st ed., 1816, ch. XX, Gironde, pp. 198-201 (title page: 'Auteur du Manuel du Sommelier')
- Wilhelm (William) Franck, Traité sur les vins du Médoc, 1st ed., 1824, ch. 2
- Armand d'Armailhacq, La culture des vignes, la vinification et les vins dans le Médoc, 1855, ch. 2, 'De la Cabernelle ou Carmenère'
- Auguste Petit-Lafitte, La vigne dans le Bordelais, 1868, pp. 148-149
- Almanach du buveur, 1870, and Cocks, Bordeaux et ses vins, 1874, publisher's lists: 'Auguste Petit-Lafitte, professeur d'agriculture du département de la Gironde'
- Charles Cocks & Édouard Féret, Bordeaux et ses vins classés par ordre de mérite (Troisième édition, refondue et augmentée) (Angludet)
- Charles Cocks & Édouard Féret, Bordeaux et ses vins classés par ordre de mérite (6e éd.) (1893) (Angludet)
- Charles Cocks & Édouard Féret, Bordeaux et ses vins classés par ordre de mérite (7e éd.) (1898) (Haut-Bailly)
- Charles Cocks & Édouard Féret, Bordeaux et ses vins classés par ordre de mérite (9e éd.) (1922) (Arsac)
- Julia Riffault, 'Recensement, préservation et valorisation des cépages modestes du Bordelais', Rencontres des cépages modestes, November 11, 2017, slides citing Galet, Cépages et vignobles de France, t. III (2006) and FranceAgriMer 2017, https://rencontres-des-cepages-modestes.com/rencontres/2017/2017_documents/cepagemodestes_bordelais.pdf, accessed October 2026
- Röckel et al. (2026): Vitis International Variety Catalogue, www.vivc.de, accessed October 2026
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