Merlot

Merlot (Mur-low)

Merlot, the most planted red grape in all of Bordeaux, finds a comfortable home in Tuscany.  While not having the same fabled history as Cabernet Sauvignon in Tuscany, should not be overlooked for it has quite an important place within the hierarchy of Tuscan wines.  Some of the best ‘Supertuscan’ wines are made with a majority, or purely, Merlot.  Ornellaia, a world famous winery most known for its Cabernet Sauvignon based ‘Ornellaia’ label also produces a wine named ‘Masseto,’ after the special vineyard on the property, purely from Merlot and it is a cult classic and highly sought after.  Also the ‘Redigaffi’ wine from Tua Rita is another cult ‘Supertuscan’ wine from pure Merlot. 

Like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot gained much prominence in Italy after the phylloxera epidemic in the late 19^th Century.  Many producers turned to the International grapes as a way to rebound and recover from the problem.  Today, Merlot ranks in the top 10 as far as vineyard space planted throughout Italy, and trails only Sangiovese and Barbera in the red category.  Its story in Tuscany is similar to Cabernet Sauvignon, used in many facets as a blending grape to enhance the Sangiovese based wines from Chianti and Montepulciano, as well as showing itself more than useful as a majority varietal in blends under the Maremma Toscana I.G.T. designation.  Many say that Merlot is most suited to the soils of the Southern Maremma, where there is a dominance of clay intermixed with hard minerals and some sand due to the influences of the coast and the mountains.  It is indeed true that many producers are finding success with Merlot in their vineyards and the market will reflect the quality level of the Merlot based wines in this region in the upcoming years.

The grape is of medium size with a certain plumpness to it.  Slightly larger than Cabernet Sauvignon, although both grapes have a natural thickness to the skins and Merlot also contains a moderately high level of natural phenolic qualities, the compounds that produce tannins in the skins.  The wines can range in intensity of color, but should have a natural garnet red color that can darken depending on the amount of extraction partaken by the winemaker.  Merlot does best on clay dominant soils intermixed with minerals from limestone to sand and iron rich rock, thus its high level of success in the Right Bank Bordeaux communes as well as the Southern Maremma and the valley floor in Napa.  For flavors I look to the traditional berry fruits, tending to me more plump and red than the blackness of Cabernet Sauvignon, in the form of ripe cherries and red plums with secondary notes of cool dark earth and tobacco leaves.  One can also find toasted oak and coffee aromas in examples with barrel aging, which his common to do, as well as the herbaceous notes of mint and eucalyptus.