A long, thin country running the length of South America, with desert in the north, the Antarctic in the south, and the Andes to the east, Chile is a country of diverse topography and weather conditions. Most of the wine production, however, takes place in the centre of the country (Central Valley), where the climate is somewhere between Napa Valley and Bordeaux. Chile's strength is wines which show an excellent price-quality ratio, and popular varietals like Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon are the mainstay. However, Chile also discovered, not so long ago, that vineyards thought to have been planted with Merlot were in fact planted with Carmenere, an almost forgotten grape. This can be made into very appealing wines with the structure of Cabernet Sauvignon but the juiciness of Merlot.