Merlot: The Team Player

We call Merlot the “Team Player” because it is such a good blending partner with other red wines, particularly Cabernet Sauvignon.

Merlot’s home area is the Right Bank of the Bordeaux region of France.

• Merlot originally meant “young blackbird”– the grape has blue/black skin
• Cool climate Merlot has flavors of plum, berries, and tobacco
• Warmer climate Merlot may have flavors of chocolate and fruitcake

 

Traditional Style of Merlot

• Early harvest maintains acidity
• Medium-bodied wines
• Moderate alcohol levels
• Fresh, red fruit flavors and leafy vegetal notes.

International Style of Merlot

• Late harvest for deeper flavors
• Inky, purple colored wines
• Full body, high alcohol
• Lush, velvety tannins
• Intense, plum and blackberry fruit.

Worldwide Merlot Production

• France, Italy, Switzerland, Romania, Croatia, Montenegro, Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Turkey, Australia, South Africa, Canada, Argentina

The Ups and Downs of Merlot

Merlot sales skyrocketed in 1991 when a feature on the television show “60 Minutes” linked red wine consumption to heart health. This was based on the so-called “French Paradox,” the belief that the wine-consuming French have lower levels of heart problems even though they eat fatty foods.

The logic:

• Moderate consumption of red wine protects against cancer and heart issues by increasing HDL cholesterol and reducing LDL cholesterol
• Red wines have high levels of antioxidants
  • the darker the wine, the higher the antioxidant content
• Red wines are also sources of resveratrol, linked to longevity and cancer prevention

Why Merlot?

• Merlot has lower tannins and less acidity than Cabernet Sauvignon and so is considered smoother and “easier to drink”
• Merlot is less expensive than Pinot Noir
• Merlot is easy to pronounce
• Merlot is easy to pair with a wide range of foods

Merlot Quality Declined

 California Merlot acreage grew from a few thousand acres in 1985 to over 50,000 by the end of the century

• Much Merlot was planted in unsuitable climates, usually too warm for the variety
• Following the American rule that a wine labeled with a varietal needs to only have 75% of that grape, much wine labeled Merlot was plumped up with unsuitable blending grapes, which could be anything.

A reaction against Merlot set in. In the 2004 film Sideways, the wine-obsessed main character Miles exclaims, “If anyone orders Merlot, I’m leaving. I’m not drinking any ____ Merlot!”

But Merlot didn’t sink that low…

• The Merlot market declined but stabilized a few years after Sideways
• Higher-end Merlots are now holding their own
• Example – some of the quality Merlots coming out of Washington State
• Lower-end Merlots suffered (deservedly) from a reputation problem