Carmenere is a wine grape variety planted in the Médoc region of Bordeaux, France where it is used to produce deep red wines occasionally used for blending purposes in the same manner as Petit Verdot.
The world's largest vineyard area of this variety is now found in the Santiago region of Chile in South America. Recent genetic research has shown that the variety may be distantly related to Merlot.
It is claimed by some that the variety name is an alias for what is actually the Vidure , a local Bordeaux name for a Cabernet Sauvignon clone once thought to be the grape from which all red Bordeaux varieties originated. Another theory holds that the true name should be Biturica , thought to be an ancient variety that originated from Iberia - (modern Spain/Portugal) - as claimed by Pliny, and currently a popular blending variety with Sangiovese in Tuscany called "Predicato di Biturica".