CARMENÈRE is the new buzz word in wine grape circles. And it's not surprising when you taste the wine that it makes. Wines like the Terra Andina Carmenère 1999 from the Valle de Curico in Chile. This wine is a dense but bright pinky red colour. It's full of sweet ripe plummy fruit with a great structure underlying. Berries and spice harmonise with a cigar-box smokiness, a touch of mocha and liquorice and a creamy chocolate texture. It's soft and rounded and so delicious and the $12.95 price tag is pretty appealing too.

Carmenère. Chile. It all sounds pretty exotic. But Carmenère is not a new grape variety. In fact it's heritage goes back to the 18th century when it was classified as one of the few wine grapes permitted to be grown in the classic Médoc region of Bordeaux in France along with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot. However, it is nearing extinction in its homeland as growers have long disregarded the flavoursome but low-yielding grape in favour of the others, which prove more consistent in the Bordeaux climate.

It is believed that Carmenère was sent to Chile over a century ago but the vines were mistaken as Merlot. As the Chileans learnt, just like we have learnt, how to make good wine, they started to gain a reputation as a producer of great Merlot with more colour and intensity than other regions could produce, a factor relating to the climate, many thought. It wasn't until the early 1990's, when ampelographers (people who identify vine species) looked closely at the vines that were growing and realised from differences in the shapes of the leaves and the bunches there were in fact two distinct varieties. They were identified as Merlot and Carmenère.

Now critics the world over are excited that the 'lost grape of Bordeaux' is relishing thousands of miles away on a different continent in the Southern Hemisphere and producing some deliciously drinkable wines.

Will we see Carmenère growing in New Zealand? Time will tell. We produced some of our greatest reds from the 1998 vintage when conditions were hot and dry, a climate more akin to that in Chile. I'm sure our growers will try and perhaps when a wine is finally produced we will find it just as exciting as the Chile's exotic-sounding Carmenère.