Carignan

Carignan is a red wine grape that originated in Cariñena, Aragon and was later transplanted to Sardinia, elsewhere in Italy, France, Algeria, and much of the New World. Along with Aramon, it considered one of the main grapes responsible for France's wine lake.

In California, the grape is rarely used to make varietal wines, but some examples from old vines do exist. In Australia, Carignan is used as a component of blended wines.

In the Languedoc, the grape is often blended with Cinsaut, Grenache, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Mourvèdre and Merlot. It has an upright growth habit and can be grown without a trellis. It was crossed to Cabernet Sauvignon to give Ruby Cabernet.

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 fed that country's export production to France.

Upon Algeria's independence in 1962, the French supply of Carignan wine was cut off and growers in Southern France began to plant the vine for their own production.

The grape's prominence in France hit a high point in 1988 when it accounted for 167,000 hectares and was France's most widely planted grape.

That year, in a drive to increase the overall quality of European wine and to reduce the growing wine lake phenomenon, the European Union started an aggressive vine pull scheme where vineyard owners were offered cash subsidies in exchange for pulling up their vines.

Out of all the French wine varieties, Carignan was the most widely affected dropping by 2000 to 95,700 ha (236,000 acres) and being surpassed by Merlot as the most widely planted grape.



Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carignan


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