Wine of the Day, No. 606

The carmenere grape was once considered as important as cabernet sauvignon in Bordeaux, but it didn't take well to grafting -- vital after the phylloxera scourge of the late 19th Century -- and it ripens inconveniently late. The estates in Bordeaux eradicated the grape from their vineyards early in the 20th Century, and today it is as scarce in the regi…