Flavor Profile
In hot climates or over-ripe grapes grown in moderate climates: blackberry, black plum, black cherry.
Some super-ripe versions display fruitcake and chocolate flavors.
In moderate or cool climates: strawberry, red berry, plum.
Origins
Originally grown in France, the earliest mention of Merlot appeared in 1783-4 in Libourne in the Gironde:"Merlau ... makes a black and excellent wine, and is productive in a good soil". Merlot also used to be called lous seme dou fube (‘the seedling from the river’) because it was though to have been born on the islands in the River Garonne. The modern spelling appeared in 1824. DNA parentage analysis revealed that Cabernet Franc is the father and Magdeleine Noire de Charentes ( a rare grape variety) the mother of Merlot.
Viticultural Characteristics
Early budding, mid ripening. Moderately, sometimes very, vigorous with a tendency to produce many shoots and suckers. Fertile and best if short pruned. Prone to coulure in some climate, suited to clay-limestone soils. At risk of winter and spring frosts and drought. More susceptible to botrytis bunch rot than the Cabetil with which it is so frequently grown. According to Boursiquot et al. (2009), Merlot 's positive characteristics and the reason for its success may be due to its inheritance: high-quality phenolic compounds (tannins, anthocyanino from Cabernet Franc and precocity and fertility from Magdeleine Noire des Charentes).
Merlot grown in hot climates tends to show more mature fruit character, while those that grown in cool climates are elegant in style, which is rare.
Where It's Grown And What It's Wine Taste Like
Merlot is one of the world's most planted wine grapes in France, where the total was 115,746 ha in 2009.It is mainly planted in Aquitaine, the greater Bordeaux region and Languedoc-Roussillon. Wine made from Merlot generally has more obvious fruit and less aggressive tannins so that it can be drunk younger than Cabernet.Typically it has a certain sweet plummy fruit which can vary between facile and the extraordinary velvety richness of a great Pomerol such as Chateau Petrus. In traditional Bordeaux blend, especially on the left bank in the Medoc and Graves, Merlot provides the flesh on the bones of the Cabernets. While on the right bank, Merlot is the dominant variety in appellations such as Saint-Emillion AC and Pomerol AC. The wines are generally softer in style than those from the right bank.They typically have medium tannin levels, medium acidity and a red fruit character.
Italy's 2000 census found 25,614 ha of Merlot, most in the northern half of the country and two thirds of it grown for more basic IGT wines. Merlot is, typically, a mass-marker, sweet-and-sour blend assembled from over-productive vines grown on the plains of Veneto and Friuli. Merlot is also important in a host of Bordeaux blend in central Italy, especially in Maremma and Chianti Classico. Merlot’s achievements in southern Italy have been less glorious.
Merlot has been hugely important in the United States, particularly in California, where 46,762 acres of vineyard was planted with the variety in 2010. The combination of the opulence of Merlot and California sunshine can be overwhelming; the trick is to retain a certain freshness.
Merlot is extremely important in Chile, where it is the third most planted variety, predominantly in the valleys that cross the Central Valley: Colchagua, Maule, Curoco, Cachapoal and Maipo. Besides, Merlot is also planted in South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and many other countries in the world.