As a curious connoisseur, I periodically stop off and browse different wine shops, just to see what is new and different. We do the same thing when we travel, usually seeking out a local wine to accompany our meals. Recently, I stopped off at Off the Vine, in Grapevine and talked to Holly, the owner. She mentioned they recently had a wine tasting of South American wines. As she ran through the producers who had participated, she mentioned that one was located in Peru and produced a nice Carmenere.
We love Carmenere, but primarily find it in Chile, where it is one of the distinct locally produced wines they promote, similar to Malbec in Argentina and Shiraz in Australia. The reason is, it was thought to be extinct for more than 100 years. Essentially from the phylloxera that killed most Bordeau vines in the late 1800s. What was discovered is that pre-phylloxera Carmenere grapes had been brought to Chile, and they thrived. However, everyone thought they were Merlot grapes. In 1994 an agronomist noticed that half of the Merlot in Chile took another month to ripen. He did an analysis of the vines and discovered they were Carmenere. It became an officially recognized wine in Chile in 1998.
We bought several bottles of the Peruvian Carmenere, but were skeptical, having tried this type of wine from Italy a few years ago. We found it less than satisfying. This Tacama Carmenere took a bit longer to breathe (about an hour) but proved to be a very nice, but not spectacular Carmenere. A good sipping wine.
What all this led us to wonder, having our first Peruvian wine, is how many countries have we had wine from? According to Forbes magazine, 85 countries produce wine sold in the international markets. Many more produce it for local consumption only.
Thinking back, we realized that we have had wine from 27 countries.
Again, according to Forbes Magazine, in 2022 about 50% of the wine sold in the international markets were produced in just three nations. I am sure most people think that the US and primarily California produces the most. But you would be wrong. Statista lists the top ten nations in the following order of quantities sold:
Italy – 49.8 million hectoliters
France – 45.6 million
Spain – 35.7 million
US – 22.4 million
Australia – 12.7 million
Chile – 12.4 million
Argentina – 11.5 million
South Africa – 10.2 million
Germany – 8.9 million
Portugal – 6.8 million
Our wine map includes wines we tried in Croatia, Canada, Mexico, Turkey, Poland, Israel, Greece and Colombia. We have also found locally, wines from Uruguay, Tasmania, the nation of Georgia, which is near the Ukraine, Lebanon, Sardinia and New Zealand.
If we look at just the US, our wine map includes not only the many valleys of California, but also wines from New York, North Carolina, Washington, Oregon, Arizona and yes, Texas.
We have decided to explore new countries to add to our wine map. One in particular is the UK, which is now producing some interesting sparkling wines. There are others that just might become new favorites.
So, what is your wine map?
