What grape variety grown in Chile was, for many years, thought to be merlot?

C.

Indigenous to Bordeaux, carmenère was brought to Chile in the late 1800s where inexplicably, it began to be made into wine called merlot. It wasn’t until the DNA fingerprinting of grapevines was pioneered in the 1990s that Chile’s “merlot” was discovered to be carmenère. Carmenère is now virtually extinct in Bordeaux, but is thriving in Chile where it can produce fascinating, soft, plush wines redolent of green tobacco, coffee, and leather.