Merlot

Merlot

Although often overlooked these days by many in the market, Merlot is one of the most important grape varietals on the plant.  It may not have the rugged full bodied appeal like Cabernet Sauvignon, or the lean sexy seduction of a Pinot Noir, Merlot being seen as the safe and easy choice, right in the middle.  The word Merlot itself is French and translates to ‘blackbird,’ not middle like everyone seems to associate with it.  Here is a fun little fact; did you know that it is Merlot that comprises the most expensive current production wines in the world?  Not Pinot Noir, not Cabernet Sauvignon, that’s right Merlot.  It is a grape vine that is fairly early ripening and relatively healthy and so you can find it all throughout the world.  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.  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. 

Let us begin with the true home of Merlot, Bordeaux.  Here Merlot is the most planted grape varietal.  It is often Cabernet Sauvignon that gets all the hype for Bordeaux these days because of the Haut-Medoc, but it is Merlot that is the workhorse and savior in fact for Bordeaux.  You see Merlot ripens earlier than either of the Cabernet varietals, it is the first red varietal to be harvested every year.  Because of this, and the unpredictable weather, Merlot is needed to help ensure that quality wine can be produced every year.  This is why the blends will change every year due to the vintage.  Take a year like 1998.  If you look only at wines from the Haut-Medoc (Left Bank) then you see that the vintage was affected by rain and the wines did not turn out so well.  But if you look to Saint Emilion or Pomerol (Right Bank) you see a much different story.  Because of the earlier ripening Merlot being in near perefect condition and harvested before the rains arrived, you have a classically phenomenal rated vintage.   Take Chateau Le Pin and Chateau Petrus, both from Pomerol.  These are the two wines I eluded to earlier, these are the most expensive wines currently being produced in the world.  They are rare and ultra expensive.

In Italy Merlot is a grape that quietly flies underneath the radar.  But still it is in the top 5 for red varietals as far as planted acreage in all of Italy.  You can find it in the North up into the Dolomites and stretching all the way South to the island of Sicily.  There are some great bottling being made in the North, but it is Tuscany that one should look to really find the impact that merlot is making on Italy.  Tuscany will always be the land of Sangiovese, but in recent years winemakers have adopted to using Merlot most often to blending with the Sangiovese based wines to increase the mouthfeel without overwhelming the freshness and liviliness, which Cabernet Sauvignon would.  Look towards the coast and to Bolgheri and the Maremma.  Again here it is the Cabernet Sauvignon grape that gets much of the hype, the ‘Supertuscan’ phenomenan started with Cabernet based wines continues today with Merlot wines included.  Ornellaia is one of the most famous, but it is their wine labeled Masseto, a 100% Merlot, which is the most sought after cult Supertuscan produced today.  Also the ‘Redigaffi’ from Tua Rita is pure Merlot, and has received a perfect 100 Points before by Wine Spectator. 

In the U.S., we are concerned with two states, California and Washington.  Of course California has a long and fabled history with the likes of Napa and Sonoma valleys, both of which are extremely important locals for the Merlot grape.  Here though it is often overlooked again my wineries in exchange for Cabernet Sauvignon, which also grows well and fetches higher price tags.  Even with this fact mostly true, there are still many good examples of Merlot dominant wines to be found.  And, like in Bordeaux, many winemakers would admit that it is the earlier ripening Merlot which is indeed vital especially in years that are filled with less favorable weather conditions.

In Washington State you have a much different story.  Here is the ‘Right Bank’ to California’s ‘Left Bank’ dominant mindset.  Merlot thrives in the arid lands east of the Cascade Mountain Range.  Yes you can definitely find quality Cabernet Sauvignon and even Syrah wines being grown, but it is Merlot that has truly helped to shape and mold the image of the Washington wine scene.  The vine does well in the moderate climate that is mostly shadowed from heavy rains by the Cascades.  Rich, dense, and complex examples can be found, and at good values still too.