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Carmenère

noun
Car·​me·​nère | \ ˌkär-mə-ˈner How to pronounce Carmenère (audio) \
plural Carmenères

Definition of Carmenère

: a full-bodied red varietal wine produced especially in Chile Cordova believes that Chile's wine industry will prosper even more as the world comes to recognize the unique characteristics of the varietal the country claims as its own, Carmenère.— Chris Hardman, Americas, July/August 2004 also : the grape from which the wine is made The Carmenère grape has a strange history in Chile, where until recently growers mistook it for a late-ripening Merlot. This largely forgotten variety from Bordeaux was transported to Chile before it was nearly wiped out by phylloxera in France in the mid-nineteenth century. — Ruth Van Waerebeek, Food & Wine, June 2002

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First Known Use of Carmenère

1846, in the meaning defined above

History and Etymology for Carmenère

borrowed from French carmenère, “variety of red grape,” borrowed from regional French (Médoc), probably alteration, by suffix substitution, of carmenet, variant of carbenet, cabernet, names for local grape varieties, of obscure origin

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The first known use of Carmenère was in 1846

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