Merlot & blends

Overview

Merlot is an early-budding and early ripening grape variety and the preferred blending partner for late-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon, to which structure Merlot contributes plump fruit and velvety texture. Merlot prefers cool and damp soils rich in clay, such as those found on some of Bordeaux’ Right Banks best communes. In fact, in all but the warmest or hottest climates, Merlot is easier to ripen than Cabernet Sauvignon and also gives higher yields, which is likely the reason why it is much wider planted in Bordeaux, and the world. 

The most widely planted grape variety overall in Bordeaux, Merlot is also the main grape in leading Right Bank villages Pomerol and St-Emilion, including icon wines Chateaux Petrus and Le Pin, which are admired and copied the world over. In Italy, Merlot is planted in 14 of the country’s 20 regions, but it is in Tuscany especially that the grape achieves real heights with wines such as Masseto and Castello di Ama’s L’Apparita. In California, Merlot-based Bordeaux blends are lush, full-bodied, and richly textured, whereas from Chile, they have a more pure-fruited plummy milk chocolate generosity and drive.

Typical Blends and Winemaking 

• Bordeaux blend (Right Bank)*
• Merlot-Cabernet Franc
• Merlot (100%)

*At The Perfect Bottle, we categorise a Bordeaux blend as either Left Bank (Cabernet Sauvignon led) or Right Bank (Merlot led).

Merlot often plays the role of companion to the austere and structured Cabernet Sauvignon, also sometimes with a small proportion of Cabernet Franc adding herbaceous lift.  Occasionally Merlot is produced as varietal wine, which can be some of the most opulently textured and richly fruited examples of the variety. Concrete vats are often favoured for the purity and elegance which they bestow on red wines from Merlot, but French oak barrels are an equally favoured maturation vessel.

Typical aromas and flavours

Plum, black cherry, chocolate, vanilla, gentle spice, baked figs, bayleaf.

Food matching

Bordeaux blends from the Right Bank tend to go well with most types of roast and grilled meat such as beef, veal, and venison, and are particularly suited to a lamb roast with herbs. Rich and braised meat dishes also go well with the velvety texture which Merlot contributes. Pigeon with foie gras and duck with orange confit are also great choices, as is meaty and or flavourful fish, such as monkfish and red mullet served with rich sauces.

Younger vintages of red Bordeaux go well with richer, more flavourfully accessorized and sauce rich foods, whereas older vintages are best enjoyed with a leaner and simpler accompaniment such as for example beef filet with truffle and salsify. Merlot based wines often also works well with the cheese board.