Merlot ( ) is a dark-blue-colored wine grape variety that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name Merlot is thought to be a diminutive of , the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the color of the grape. Its softness and "fleshiness", combined with its earlier ripening, make Merlot a popular grape for blending with the sterner, later-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon, which tends to be higher in tannin.

Along with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot, Merlot is one of the primary grapes used in Bordeaux wine, and it is the most widely planted grape in the Bordeaux wine regions. Merlot is also one of the most popular red wine varietals in many markets. This flexibility has helped to make it one of the world's most planted grape varieties. As of 2004, Merlot was estimated to be the third most grown variety at globally.

The area dedicated to Merlot has continued to increase, with in 2015.

While Merlot is made across the globe, there tend to be two main styles. The "International style" favored by many New World wine regions tends to emphasize late harvesting to gain physiological ripeness and produce inky, purple-colored wines that are full in body with high alcohol and lush, velvety tannins with hints of plum and blackberry. While this international style is practiced by many Bordeaux wine producers, the traditional "Bordeaux-style" of Merlot involves harvesting Merlot earlier. This maintains the acidity and produces more medium-bodied wines with moderate alcohol levels that have fresh, red fruit flavors (raspberries, strawberries) and potentially leafy, vegetal notes.

History and name

left|thumb|A main cluster and an attached "wing cluster" of Merlot grapes with its characteristic dark-blue color

The earliest recorded mention of Merlot (under the synonym of Merlau) was in the notes of a local Bordeaux official who in 1784 labeled wine made from the grape in the Libournais region as one of the area's best. In 1824, the word Merlot itself appeared in an article on Médoc wine which mentioned that the grape was named after the local black bird (called in the local variant of Occitan language, in standard French) who liked eating the ripe grapes on the vine. Other descriptions of the grape from the 19th century called the variety lou seme doù flube (meaning "the seedling from the river") with the grape thought to have originated on one of the islands found along the Garonne river. After a series of setbacks that included a severe frost in 1956 and several vintages in the 1960s lost to rot, French authorities in Bordeaux banned new plantings of Merlot vines between 1970 and 1975.

It was first recorded in Italy around Venice under the synonym Bordò in 1855. The grape was introduced to the Swiss, from Bordeaux, sometime in the 19th century and was recorded in the Swiss canton of Ticino between 1905 and 1910.

Parentage and relationship to other grapes

right|thumb|Cabernet Franc, one of the parent varieties of Merlot.

In the late 1990s, researchers at the University of California, Davis, showed that Merlot is an offspring of Cabernet Franc and is a half-sibling of Carménère, Malbec, and Cabernet Sauvignon. The identity of the second parent of Merlot wouldn't be discovered till the late 2000s when an obscure and unnamed variety, first sampled in 1996 from vines growing in an abandoned vineyard in Saint-Suliac in Brittany, was shown by DNA analysis to be the mother of Merlot. The vine can also be susceptible to downy mildew (though it has better resistance to powdery mildew than other Bordeaux varieties) and to infection by leafhopper insect varieties. California, Romania, Australia, Argentina, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Greece, New Zealand, South Africa, Switzerland, Croatia, Hungary, Montenegro, Slovenia, Mexico, and other parts of the United States such as Washington, Virginia, and Long Island. It grows in many regions that also grow Cabernet Sauvignon but tends to be cultivated in the cooler portions of those areas. In areas that are too warm, Merlot will ripen too early. By 2017, that number had dropped slightly to . It is most prominent in Southwest France in regions like Bordeaux, Bergerac, and Cahors, where it is often blended with Malbec. The largest recent increase in Merlot plantations has occurred in the south of France, such as Languedoc-Roussillon, where it is often made under the designation of Vin de Pays wine. Others saw its potential as a stand-alone labeled varietal: The first wineries to market Merlot as a varietal in the post WWII period were Louis M. Martini winery, which made a non-vintage dated Merlot, a blend of the 1968 and 1970 vintages, and Sterling Vineyards, which issued the first Merlot with a vintage, 1969 —Sterling's winemaker, Ric Forman, was an early advocate of Merlot as a varietal bottling. Following the "Merlot wine craze" of the 1990s, sparked by 60 Minutes French Paradox report, sales of Merlot spiked, with the grape plantings of over in 2004. A study published in Wine and Vines magazine indicated that the 2004 movie Sideways, where the lead character is a Pinot noir fan who expresses his disdain of Merlot, caused a decline in Merlot sales in the US after its release (and an even larger spike of interest in Pinot noir). By 2010, plantings of California Merlot had dropped slightly to . Following that dip, Merlot plantings rebounded, totaling approximately 39,000 acres in 2020.

In California, Merlot can range from very fruity simple wines (sometimes referred to by critics as a "red Chardonnay") to more serious, barrel aged examples. It can also be used as a primary component in Meritage blends. Today it is the second most widely grown red wine grape in the state (after Cabernet Sauvignon), following many years of being the most widely planted variety, and accounts for nearly one fifth of the state's entire production. In 2011, there were of Washington Merlot in cultivation. nor should it be confused with the white mutant variety of the Merlot grape.

Food pairing

In food and wine pairings, the diversity of Merlot can lend itself to a wide array of matching options. Cabernet-like Merlots pair well with many of the same things that Cabernet Sauvignon would pair well with, such as grilled and charred meats. Softer, fruitier Merlots (particularly those with higher acidity from cooler climate regions like Washington State and Northeastern Italy) share many of the same food-pairing affinities with Pinot noir and go well with dishes like salmon, mushroom-based dishes, and greens like chard and radicchio. Light-bodied Merlots can go well with shellfish like prawns or scallops, especially if wrapped in a protein-rich food such as bacon or prosciutto. Merlot tends not to go well with strong and blue-veined cheeses that can overwhelm the fruit flavors of the wine. The capsaicins of spicy foods can accentuate the perception of alcohol in Merlot and make it taste more tannic and bitter.

Synonyms

Over the years, Merlot has been known under many synonyms across the globe, including Bégney, Bidal, Bidalhe, Bigney, Bigney rouge, Bini, Bini Ruzh, Bioney, Bordeleza belcha, Crabutet, Crabutet noir, Crabutet noir merlau, Hebigney, Higney, Higney rouge, Langon, Lecchumskij, Médoc noir, Merlau, Merlaut, Merlaut noir, Merle, Merle Petite, Merleau, Merlô, Merlot noir, Merlot black, Merlot blauer, Merlot crni, Merlot nero, Merlott, Merlou, Odzalesi, Odzhaleshi, Odzhaleshi Legkhumskii, Petit Merle, Picard, Pikard, Plan medre, Planet Medok, Plant du Médoc, Plant Médoc, Saint-Macaire, Same de la Canan, Same dou Flaube, Sème de la Canau, Sème Dou Flube, Semilhon rouge, Semilhoum rouge, Semilhoun rouge, Sémillon rouge, Sud des Graves, Vidal, Vini Ticinesi, Vitrai, and Vitraille.

See also

  • International variety

References

  • Growing Merlot grapes in the U.S. - information from Cooperative Extension