The re-re-emergergence of Carignan(e) the semi-public eye has returned!
While I do not have any legal claim to the Carignan Renaissance name, I do support the concept that this variety is capable of creating wonderful, site-evocative wines with exceptional balance and beauty.
This thread is for fellow-minded wine lovers to share their love and support for this truly unique grape.
Following.
Foundation Plant Services âCarignan(e)â Profile:
âThis grape variety originated in the province of AragĂłn in northeast Spain near the town of CariĂąena. The variety was known in Spain as Mazuela, Mazuelo, and CariĂąena. The grape was so widely cultivated in France that it has come to be identified with that country under the name Carignan (Carignan noir). The variety is known as Carignane in the United States.â
Out of personal custom, I will continue to refer to the grape as âCarignanâ. Others are free to spell the variety as they choose.
As you may know, many growers refer to it as âKerriganâ. The Irish grape!
Drew, we need to make you into a Johnny Appleseed type of character. Instead of apple trees you can plant neglected grape varieties all throughout California.
Here are two articles focusing on Californian (and some French) Carignan, both written by Jon BonnĂŠ. Apologies for the fact that the content is olderâŚand not always flattering of the grape.
SF Gate
âCarignane Gets a Shot at Respect - Quietlyâ
by Jon BonnĂŠ
August 1, 2010
"The story of Carignane is the story of a down-and-outer, a Jake LaMotta. It is that most unloved of grapes - planted nearly everywhere, almost regrettably so, and respected almost nowhere.
"This is unfair. One of the worldâs most widely available grapes, Carignane has become a virtual synonym for nondescript. But when cared for and restrained from prolific growth, old Carignane vines offer a wine that combines beautiful bright fruit with a spicy edge (think celery seed) and a slight wild, animal tone. It is the frizzy-haired cousin to mellow Grenache or sharp-tongued Syrah.
"Now thereâs a blip of resurgence for Carignane as a source for affordable, complex wine - though you might not even know itâs Carignane in the bottle.
"âŚâCarignane might be representative of something less aristocratic,â speculates Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon Vineyard, one of Californiaâs great Carignane proponents, âand so it needs to be repressed.â
"Story about survivors
"But ours is a story about survivors - vines that have endured through the decades to make compelling wines.
"âŚGnarled Carignane vines can be located in places like Mendocinoâs Redwood Valley and Contra Costa County. Often more than 50 years old, and in some cases dating back more than a century, these are remnants of Californiaâs era of âmixed blackâ grapes and jug wine. A solid performer like Carignane won favor with farmers.
"Farmers like the Finnish ancestors of Alvin Tollini, who grows Carignane vines that are more than 60 years old, in Redwood Valley, northeast of Ukiah. Vines first went in around the time Tolliniâs grandfather was born in 1915. The vine louse phylloxera forced replanting; the wizened old trunks on the property date back to 1948.
"âI think most of the growers in that area had Carignane, and maybe a bit of Zinfandel,â Tollini says. âThatâs what everybody grew in those days,â often selling them to large concerns like Gallo.
"Fortunes in Europe
"âŚThroughout southwest France, noble old specimens of Carignan thrive. In the Roussillon region, in the towns of Maury and Belesta, Eric and Leia MonnĂŠ use Carignan in two momentous reds under their Clot de lâOum label.
"In the Languedoc, a Carignan renaissance can be detected in Corbieres, where Maxime Magnon makes a delicate bottling that reflects his tutelage in Beaujolais under Jean Foillard. Nearby in Minervois, a stronghold for low-grade Carignan, Burgundian couple Anne Gros and Jean-Paul Tollot are bringing refined winemaking from Vosne-Romanee to sunnier climes. In Saint-Chinian, Jean-Marie Rimbert has acquired an international reputation for attempting to elevate Carignane grown on schist soils to the status of Pinot.
Still, the grape has plenty of detractors, including writer Jancis Robinson, who famously wrote that its âwine is high in everything - acidity, tannins, colour, bitterness - but finesse and charm.â
"Its fortunes were never so grim in California, though they have been mixed. Grape researcher Eugene W. Hilgard noted in an 1896 report: âThe results obtained with this grape in different localities of California are somewhat discordant. In a few specially suitable localities it has produced a good wine, while in most others the wine is only from fair to poor.â
"Patience required
"If Carignane is a neutral workhorse, when placed in talented hands it can produce at least an interesting wine - and an affordable one. Slow to ripen or lose its acidity, mostly it requires patience.
"Even in late October it can be picked without being too ripe, providing ample freshness - which is why old Carignane vines from 1882 and 1892 still form âthe backbone of our Geyserville,â says David Gates, Ridge Vineyardsâ vice president for vineyard operations. Or why it is abundant in the warmest parts of Dry Creek and Alexander valleys, interplanted as a way to freshen up ripe Zinfandel.
"âThatâs why the old-timers planted that way,â Gates says. âThey knew what they had in the Carignane.â
"Grahm discovered something similar, inadvertently. Growers forced him to take Carignane to get other grapes when buying fruit for his popular Big House red among the old vines of Contra Costa County (also the source for a robust Carignane from Cline). With Carignane as its backbone, Big House became so popular that Grahm spun it off in 2006.
"Endangered resource
"Kevin Kelley, who makes the Lioco wines, sees old-vine Carignane as an endangered resourceâŚEven if the old vines can make excellent wine, they donât necessarily earn enough money to remain in the ground.
"âThese vines wonât be there anymore because people canât live off them,â Kelley says of the growers. âTheyâre going to farm the land, and if Carignane wonât pay the bills, Chardonnay at $800 a ton will.â
"Chris Brockway of Broc Cellars in Berkeley found a similar tale with an Alexander Valley vineyard near Cloverdale. Though its Carignane vines, up to 120 years old, had been used by Ridge for its Oat Valley Vineyard bottle, the fruit had few takers in recent years.
"âI think I was at the end of a string of people they talked to, to see if I was interested,â he says. âThey were considering pulling out this vineyard and planting Cabernet.â
"Brockway liked how the vines seemed to grow balanced fruit despite heat spikes and drought. To offset the usual complaints about the grape, he decided to make his initial 2009 vintage much as itâs done in Minervois, using carbonic maceration - like with Beaujolais - that lets grapes ferment inside their own skins, rather than being crushed. That adds spice from grape stems but keeps the tannins soft and the fruit flavors sweeter. (He compares it to ice pops.)
"Flavors can be a barrier
"Carignaneâs flavors, ultimately, can be a big barrier. Wines like Indica have been well received, often because no one knows itâs Carignane in the glass. But the flavors can be so neutral that winemaker Sean Thackrey once compared it to âsweetwater,â while more distinct examples show off darker root and earth flavors, and sometimes greenness, that dominate the bright fruit.
"âI call it the cilantro of grape varieties,â Grahm says. âIt creates a bifurcated reaction, either people like it a lot ⌠or they donât like it a lot. Maybe thereâs a taste receptor, like with cilantro.â
"One other little glitch: Really good Carignane comes from vines at least a half century old. Who can wait that long for a vineyard to mature?
"And how many of those old vines will even survive? Itâs not a concern unique to Carignane. Throughout Russian River Valley, old field-blend vineyards are making way for Pinot Noir (natch) and tract houses.
"But great old Carignane, at least in California, is about more than economics. Kelley compares it to the movement to preserve heritage pig breeds by raising them for meat: making great wines as a way to save heritage vines. That resonates with Tollini, who sees this brief resurgence as recognition for his father and grandfatherâs years of painstaking farming of a grape that never got respect.
ââThose guys pretty much planted it themselves back in those days,â he says. âThey didnât hire extra help, so they started the vine from nothing to where it is now. So itâs nice to see them still there, 50 or 60 years later.ââ[/i]
Wines featured in the article:
⢠2009 Broc Cellars âNaturaleâ Alexander Valley Carignane
⢠2008 Cline âAncient Vinesâ Contra Costa County Carignane
⢠2008 Clot de lâOum âLa Compagnie des Papillonsâ Cotes du Roussillon Villages
⢠2008 Domaine Anne Gros/Jean-Paul Tollot âLes CarrĂŠtalsâ Minervois
⢠2008 Domaine Rimbert Saint-Chinian âLes Travers de Marceauâ
⢠2007 Lioco âIndicaâ Mendocino County Red Wine
⢠2008 Ridge âBuchignani Ranchâ Sonoma County Carignane
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SF Gate
âCarignane and Beyond: Revitalized Redsâ
by Jon BonnĂŠ
February 22, 2013
"âŚWhile technically a Rhone-native grape, Carignane has an equally long (if not always proud) history in California in the Zinfandel realm, a loyal counterpart that added an edge to the old field blends.
"It has slowly been finding a relevant modern role as table wine, a welcome trend - as thereâs finally a dab of glory in making wines that arenât quite so aspirational.
âAlong with some of its lesser-known counterparts, like Counoise, it is finding a modern spot at the table - often thanks to the renewed fortunes of great old-vine plantings. And the generally cooler 2010 and 2011 vintages brought particular nuance to the best examples.â
Wines featured in the article:
⢠2011 Neyers âEvangelho Vineyardâ Contra Costa County Carignan
⢠2011 Lioco âIndicaâ Mendocino County Red
⢠2011 Los Pilares San Diego County Grenache-Carignane
⢠2011 Donkey & Goat Mendocino Carignane
⢠2011 Broc Cellars âEagle Point Ranchâ Mendocino Counoise
⢠2010 Bonny Doon Vineyard âContraâ California Red
I feel a sense of joyful relief in having tasted very few Carignan wines that exhibited the âgreennessâ that BonnĂŠ appears to expect from even great examples of Carignan. Perhaps I have been lucky in my selections. More likely, the increase of Carignan-dominant bottlings on the market has a connection with an improved understanding of what this grape needs to express its potential in the winery.
Kerrigan, begin again.
Oh, and I think the spelling isnât optional for this one:
Chris, itâd be a looong walk to California from here!
Plus, TomHill is the one who is always suggesting that a particular variety be âplanted up and down the coastâ.
I just need a time machine to rapidly turn newly-planted Carignan vines into 100-year-old ones!!
One of the big hits this past Berserker Day was a Carignan from a small winery sourcing old-vine fruit from Mendocino Countyâs âPoor Ranchâ.
Here is a tasting note from the GrapeLive website:
"2015 The Princess & The Peasant, Carignan, Poor Ranch Vineyard, Mendocino County.
âThe Poor Ranch Carignan 2015 by Stephanie Rivin, winemaker of Signal Ridge Vineyard, under her Princess & Peasant label is made from 74 year old vines and shows rich detail and ripe juiciness making for an interesting and flavorful wine of joyous California fruit as well as playing homage to the wines of Corbieres. The vintage gave unique concentration and sweet tannins, the tiny berries old these old vines made for a high skin to juicy ratio which adds to the dark nature of this Carignan, while a talented touch in the crafting of this red allows it to be forward and lush, while also delivering balance and graceful depth. Rivinâs Carignan joins a host of other great Carignan based wines that have come out in recent years like Broc Cellars, Pax and Skylark as well as classics like Ridge, and Carignan or Carignane is a grape that has seen a world wide revival, especially in itâs historical sweet spot of Corbieres in Franceâs Languedoc with the wines of Maxim Magnon and Domaine de Fontsainte standing out in particular! The Princess & The Peasant Poor Ranch Carignan starts with a touch of floral/spicy incense and black fruit and prunes leading to a lively palate of fresh crushed blackberry, sweet black cherry, tangy currant and pomegranate fruits along with mineral/flint, earth, minty notes and wild briar spices. At 13.4% this is not a flabby wine, but medium full on the palate with a silky round mouth feel, while still vibrant and fresh, best to serve slightly chilled so it highlights itâs dry/crisp acidity and especially with hard cheeses, BBQ and Asian/Spicy dishes. Drink this unfined and unfiltered Carignan over the next 2 or 3 years, I love itâs youthful expression, openness and vitality, I highly recommend this wine as well The Princess & The Peasant Pinot Noir, all these new releases from Mendocinoâs Signal Ridge Vineyard are seriously fun offerings.
($22 Est.) 92 Points, GrapeLiveâ
⢠The Princess and The Peasant homepage
⢠Mercury News
âBehind Mendocinoâs New Princess & the Peasant Wineâ
by Mary Orlin
January 4, 2017
The Poor Ranch:
⢠Mendocino County Wine & Winegrapes website, âGreat Winesâ: âPoor Ranchâ profile
⢠Mendocino County Wine & Winegrapes website, âGrape Marketplaceâ: âPoor Ranchâ profile
⢠California Ag Water Stewardship Initiative: âPoor Ranchâ profile
Other Producers of Carignan from the âPoor Ranchâ:
⢠Absentee Winery
⢠Forlorn Hope
⢠La Onda
⢠MaÎtre de Chai
⢠Sans Wine Company
⢠Subject to Change Wine Company
⢠Vinca Minor
7x7
âA Once-Forgotten Grape is Reborn in Californiaâ
by Louis Villard
November 18, 2013
"If you havenât heard of the wine grape carignane (carignan in its native France), youâre not alone. But a hundred years ago, it was one of the most widely planted reds in Northern California, primarily in Mendocino. The vineâs high-yielding nature made it popular among growers, which led to a massive overcropping and a low-quality output, used mainly for jug wine. Talk about a grape with a serious image problem.
"But these days, the forgotten fruit is regaining status, thanks to a handful of Bay Area winemakers, who are coaxing stunning results from some of the stateâs oldest vines. âCarignane was well on its way to extinction,â says Matt Licklider, co-owner of Lioco in Sonoma, who felt compelled to âkeep it alive in California.â Sam and Jessica Bilbro of Sonomaâs Idlewild are also fans. âItâs a serious varietal with depth, especially with old vines, yet itâs also juicy and downright delicious,â Sam explains.
âAt its best, carignane can be bold and exciting. The wine combines tart cranberry and cherry flavors with dark chocolate and notes of sage, rosemary, and lavender. It has a naturally high acidity and gritty tanninsâimagine the spiciness of syrah, the juiciness of grenache, and the gutsiness of mourvèdre all in one.â
Wines Recommended by the Author:
⢠2011 Ridge Carignane, âBuchignani Ranchâ
⢠2012 Idlewild Carignan, âTesta Vineyardâ
⢠2012 Donkey & Goat Carignane, Mendocino
⢠2011 Wertzberger Carignan, Ruthâs Vineyard
⢠2011 Lioco Carignan âSativaâ, Mendocino
Decanter Magazine
âThe Rise of Carignanâ
by Miguel Hudin
January 1, 2018
"As a wine drinker, to discover (or perhaps rediscover) Carignan is to happen upon a vinous jewel. The fine wines now being produced from this grape are usually the single-vineyard top cuvĂŠes in a wineryâs portfolio. These are often expensive as a result, but they will also offer a new and exciting experience for anyone looking to broaden their drinking horizons.
"âŚAll in the handling
"Carignan is a tedious grape to grow. Given its large, tight clusters and extremely long maturation cycle, itâs very prone to powdery mildew and bunch rot. It also needs poor, rocky soils and low rainfall to curb yields and increase its flavour concentration. While thousands of hectares exist, itâs the bush-trained old vines that are proving most exciting, as they give miserly yields of 1kg (even 300g) per vine of intensely flavoured grapes.
"âŚFrance has invested the most time and learning into understanding the grape. In Gruissan and Embres-et-Castelmaure, INRA (the French National Institute for Agricultural Research) has two vineyard conservatories that hold 233 cuttings taken from vineyards across the country. Overseen by Didier Viguier, they observe the cultivation of Carignan and work on eradicating vine viruses that are often rampant in older vineyards.
"In both Languedoc and Roussillon, there is a tendency to pick Carignan early. Harvests in the third week of September arenât unheard of and the reasoning is that this preserves flavour, though it seems the thinking is based upon Carignan reaching ideal sugar levels quickly during maturation. Unlike Grenache however, it doesnât skyrocket in terms of potential alcohol and will stay below 15% in a ânormalâ vintage, even if allowed to ripen longer.
"With Carignan originating very near Catalonia, the winemakers there have been accustomed to it for centuries. The lengthy ripening avoided by the French is embraced by the Catalans and continues to be common, running into October or even early November for certain years and parcels. This makes for two very different profiles of the grape.
"âŚTime to shine
"Carignan is known for developing a wealth of tannins, acidity and colour, so it has typically been used as an excellent blending partner for Grenache, which can be lacking in these qualities. If not made with care, however, it can also be prone to rampant reduction during vinification. So, while a beautiful grape on its own, the wine must still be made carefully.
"At their best, whether north or south of the Pyrenees, Carignan wines will usually display dark cherry fruit, blueberries, violet and other floral aromas along with notes of orange peel, black liquorice and cocoa. On the palate, the wines are very full-bodied with tannins that have a fine, dusty aspect and an acidity that presents a fresh and lively wine with excellent potential for ageing.
"âŚThe past 15 years of Carignanâs evolution havenât come about by accident as a new generation has either opened new cellars or taken over from their parents. Theyâve studied oenology instead of just inheriting the knowledge from their forefathers and are able to graft modern winemaking onto the old methods, which has in turn thrust this grape upon the world stage.
"Just a few years ago, there was no thought that beautiful, complex wines might have been made from the Carignan grape, given its often thin profile when grown in Languedoc-Roussillon, or the rough abrasiveness in examples from Catalonia.
âWhile itâs true that this kind of evolution is happening with countless grape varieties when given a splash of modernity, in the case of Carignan it has also meant waiting more than a century for old vines to shed their rustic past and be reborn in splendour.â
The author of the above Decanter article spent a considerable amount of verbiage in distilling the elements of the final product. Here is one of those preparatory piecesâŚ
Vila Viniteca
âHow to Fall in Love with Carignanâ
by Miguel Hardin
December 12, 2017
"âŚWhen talking about local red grapes: Grenache is exhilarating and beautiful, Trepat is most definitely rising, and Monastrell has its merits. Iâve also tasted luscious wines of grapes that were once upon a time only known to be good in France (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, etc.) But for some reason Carignan holds a fascination Iâve not had for other grapes, perhaps because of how ignorant I was of it before moving to Catalunya, or perhaps because its profile is just so unknown to Americans. When I do private tastings for visitors, they come under its sway as well however, becoming full, Carignan Converts.
"For a forthcoming article, the editor of Decanter, one of the magazines I contribute to commissioned a piece specifically about Carignan. Due to this, Iâve been tasting wines and talking to people from as far south as Terra Alta and as far north as the RhĂ´ne Valley to get at what makes this grape so unique and appealing or, for those who have known it in the past, so despised.
"If there is any reputation that Carignan has had, itâs one of poor quality wine. We can thank large French producers for that as the vines north of the Pyrenees were pushed to do what Carignan can do easily which is to overproduce. They were seeing production output of 200 hl/ha which by way of comparison is nearly 300% more than the legal limits of DOs EmpordĂ , Montsant, & Terra Alta and 500% percent more than DOQ Priorat!
"Itâs no wonder itâs been seen as a thin, unappealing wine when this is the desired use of the grape. Itâs as if a person were made to do manual labor for 7 days straight with no break. How much personality would they possibly be able to have after being stretched so thin?
"The secret to a spellbinding Carignan is the same in Spain as it is in France which is to have small production. In those four DOs of EmpordĂ , Priorat, Montsant, and Terra Alta, itâs there that you find old bush vines struggling to produce even 1kg of grapes and at times as little as 300g. This concentration at the vine makes for grapes of stellar quality and itâs only then that the wealth of acidity, fine tannins, dusty plum, and cocoa notes of the best Carignans come forth.
âNow it needs to be said that low-production vines are just one part of the equation. While they can produce a nice wine, it will fall short if the winemaking is not at the same level of the grapes. In fact, reduction, that stinky Sulphur smell, rears its head quite easily if Carignan isnât managed during fermentation. Once sound viticulture is matched with wise vinification you can see the weight of the grape tamed into a wondrous, nuanced wine that glides across your senses with wave upon wave of flavor and depthâŚâ[/i]
*** Wines Tasted Omitted for Space (link) ***
ââŚI have to say that itâs less an issue of âthe bestâ but that there are two very different styles between France and Spain. In France, they pick much earlierâŚ"
"When picked earlier, you do get a wine thatâs less alcoholic, more acidic, and definitely more appealing to many people. Iâm not a fan of picking Carignan early as shown by some old-vine Carignan I recently tasted from my native California (yes, we have old vines there for the same reason as here in that the grape could produce an ungodly number of grapes) and the winemaker had picked at the end of August in 2016, sadly. The result was, âdifferentâ to say the least, especially when compared to another wine made from an adjoining plot that was picked at the end of September that reached a level similar to what we see in Catalunya.
âWorrying about alcohol levels canât be your main premise in winemaking as when Carignan is grown upon poor soils, especially those of slate found in Priorat or EmpordĂ this appears to mitigate the issues of the alcoholâŚmaking a more âroundedâ wine. To me, Carignan enjoys lengthy ripening to be at its best although I have to admit that when picked earlier, itâs more food friendlyâŚâ
ââŚI worry that if an explosion in popularity happens, these old, rare plots where the grapes for the best wines are sourced will âBurgundizeâ, fetching prices that will be far beyond the reach of my admittedly lethargic walletâŚif fame and worth are given back to this once-scorned grape, it certainly wonât be a bad thing. This may even encourage others to produce lovely varietal Carignan wines in the future which is a much more pleasant thought than the other optionâŚwhich was simply to tear out these old precious vinesâŚâ
That guy Abe something of Scholium was making some carignan bottlings from Southern France in his Clos Thales project. Pretty dense and differentiatedâŚalthough doubt the flavors would be universally appealing.
Not sure you can call it a renaissance when the grape was never popular in the first place.
Iâve had it in a southern Rhone blend (Albin Jacumin CdR Les BĂŠdines, a GSC - Grenache, Syrah, Carignan) and liked the result quite a bit. In fact I cracked one last night!
That has always been its role until recently. It has been considered a blending grape.
Now a few wineries are trying it out on its own, with variable results.
I would say thatâs an accurate sentiment with a lot of different varieties these days.
Right. Lots of folks are experimenting, as the Cabernet/Chardonnay field is pretty well saturated.
There are princes to be found, but sometimes a few frogs.
âSome of the best Carignanâ that MTP of Bedrock Wine Company had seen - as of 2009.
âLorenzoâs Vineyardâ video highlight by âBedrock Cinemaâ on YouTubeâŚ
Video of Vinca Minorâs Harvest of âRosewood Vineyardâsâ 85-year-old Mendocino County Carignan:
Mendocino Countyâs âRosewood Vineyardâ:
⢠Profile on Mendocino Wine & Winegrapes website:
⢠Jenny & Francois Selections portfolio, Vinca Minor âRosewood Vineyardâ Carignan:
ââş Age of Vines: 85 years old
âş Soil: Redvine, red clay strewn with fist sized rocks
âş Varieties: Carignan
âş Viticulture: âRosewood Vineyardsâ is farmed organically by a couple who have been on the property for over four generations.â
⢠Vinca Minor website:
FWIW I tried a Maxime Magnon Corbières Rouge âCampagnèsâ (2015 I believe) about 6 months ago as I was gifted a bottle after a tasting - very promising, so recommend to try it if you can. Itâs predominantly Carignan based.