For Decades Carignan has been roundly condemmed as the main culprit responsible for producing the French Wine Lake. During the 70’s and 80’s it justifiably gained a reputation as the grape variety that underpinned the huge quantities of low quality Vin Ordiaire that flooded the French wine market.
It remains one of the most widely-planted red wine grape in France covering around around 95,000 ha, predominantly in the Languedoc, in 2000. However, succesive EU intervention regimes and the inexorable rise in the quality of the wine of the Midi have seen a massive reduction from the 167,000 ha that existed at its zenith in 1988.
Carignan is believed to have originated in Spain in the Aragon region and was historically a component of neighboring Rioja’s red wine blend. From Spain it gained prominence in Algeria and was primarily responsible for feeding that country's export production to France. After Algeria's independence in 1962, the French supply of Carignan wine was cut off and prompted by the influx of the Pied Noir (returning refugees) who began extensive plantings of the grape in Southern France. Carignan (sometimes spelled Carignane in the US) is also planted in Italy where it is known as Carginano and in Spain where it is most commonly called Cariñena or Mazeulo.
The single most important characteristic that has endeared wine makers to Carignan is its ability to produce huge crops. A harvest of 200 hectolitres per hectare (11 tons of grapes per hectare!) are possible if the vine is grown on fertile land and provided with enough water. However, it is not without its difficulties being susceptible to downy mildew and powdery mildew (Oidium) It is also a late budding grape variety so is not prone to spring frosts, but as a consequence is also late ripening, requiring the long hot growing season that the Languedoc provides.
The variety is also rather unstable, with a tendency to mutate, giving rise to the recognition of over 25 separate clones. The berries of Carignan are bluish-black, round and fairly large, with fairly thick, astringent skins. They hang in large, rather compact clusters that are short-stemmed and difficult to harvest, particularly by machine.
Only a few growers carefully manage vine vigour and limit crop size to produce interesting, distinctive wines from this grape. As with many other varietals, older carignan vines seem to produce wines with generally more character and less brutality. Thus, Carignan frequently becomes a wine for blending or, on its own, for inexpensive everyday consumption.
Carignan produced from old vines in places like the Corbières AOC are typically solely are predominantly Carignan. The grape is a difficult one for winemakers to work with being naturally high in acidity, tannins and astringency which requires a lot of skill to produce a wine of finesse and elegance. Some winemakers use the technique of Carbonic maceration to soften the wine and adding small amounts of Cinsault and Grenache often has positive results. Syrah and Grenache are considered its best blending partners being capable of performing a softer wine with rustic fruit and perfume.
