Very formerly grown in the Bordeaux region where it originated (specifically Medoc), it would come from the intraspecific cross between the Gros Cabernet and Cabernet Franc, from genetic studies in Montpellier (Hérault).
Virtually unknown in other French wine regions with rare exceptions, today it is found in Bulgaria, Malta, Italy and Chile ... where it represents nearly 10% of cultivated black grapes.

It is part of vine appellations Bordeaux, Crémant de Bordeaux, Graves de Vayres, Haut Médoc, Margaux, Médoc, Moulis, Pauillac, Pessac-Léognan, Premières Côtes de Bordeaux, Saint-Emilion, Saint-Emilion Grand cru, Saint-Estèphe, Saint-Julien.

Carménère gives a very colorful wine with violet hues, rather rich, tannic with few  bitterness, sometimes lacking acidity but often with great aromatic persistence. Young wines are characterized by herbaceous taste.
Aromas of beetroot, coffee, sweet spices, ripe strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, smoke, licorice, ...