Cuttings of Carménère were imported by Chilean growers from Bordeaux during the 19th century, where they were frequently confused with Merlot vines. They modeled their wineries after those in France and in the 1850s cuttings from Bordeaux, which included Carménère grape, were planted in the valleys around Santiago. Thanks to central Chile's minimal rainfall during the growing season and the protection of the country's natural boundaries, growers produced healthier crops of Carménère, and there was no spread of phylloxera. During most of the 20th century Carménère was inadvertently collected and processed together with Merlot grapes (probably reaching up to 50% of the total volume) giving Chilean Merlot markedly different properties from those of Merlot produced elsewhere. Chilean growers believed that this grape was a clone of Merlot and was known as "Merlot selection" or "Merlot Peumal" (after the Peumo Valley in Chile). In 1994, Carménère was re-discovered as a distinct varietal in Chile by French ampelographist Jean Boursiquot, a researcher at Montpellier's school of Oenology who found that "an earlier-ripening vine was "Bordeaux Carménère", not Merlot". The Chilean Department of Agriculture officially recognized Carménère as a distinct variety in 1998. Today, Carménère grows chiefly in the , Rapel Valley, and Maipo Province.