Miragaia ~ Carmenere

So sorry that we missed wine of the week last week, but we were jam packed with bottling some new amazing wines that will be coming your way soon! Wine Club members should have already received an email regarding the next release party on March 23rd - make sure you let Julie know which party you would like to attend! 

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This week I want to talk about Carmenere ~ What a fascinating history this grape has! Besides the fact that it seems many people haven't even heard of it, it was believed to be completely extinct for at least a century. It was dubbed Bordeaux's "lost grape" in the late 1800s after Phylloxera, a root louse, nearly destroyed the vineyards of France between 1860 and 1880. In 1994, a grape scientist on a trip to Chile rediscovered the grape - apparently, cuttings from Bordeaux brought over before the unfortunate Phylloxera situation had been mislabeled as Merlot! 

Within the last decade or so, it has been emerging as a newly planted grape in WA state, mostly being planted in small blocks. Carmenere acreage total is so small that it is lumped into "other reds" during the states annual wine grapes census and consisted of less than 0.1% of the 240,000 tons of grapes harvested in 2022. 

How did Carmenere end up on the Adrice Wines tasting menu? The Vineyard that was growing our Albarino offered some to winemaker Pam. Wine club members had expressed interest in the Carmenere, so she decided to try it.

Our 2021 Miragaia - Beautiful Earth Goddess - is a lovely crimson colored, medium intensity wine. It displays aromas of ripe red raspberry to black plum, which continues onto the palate with pomegranate, raspberry, black fruits, some green herbs, and mild green pepper on the mid-palate. 

Give it a try in our tasting room this weekend! She is loved by Carmenere fans and has made new fans!