Merlot is a red wine grape that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. Merlot-based wines usually have medium body with hints of berry, plum, and currant. Its softness and "fleshiness", combined with its earlier ripening, makes Merlot a popular grape for blending with the sterner, later-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon, which tends to be higher in tannin. Along with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, Merlot is one of the primary grapes in Bordeaux wine where it is the most widely planted grape. Merlot is also one of the most popular red wine varietals in many markets. This flexibility has helped to make it one of the world's most planted grape varieties. , Merlot was estimated to be the third most grown variety at globally, with an increasing trend.J. Robinson (ed) The Oxford Companion to Wine Third Edition, Oxford University Press 2006, pg. 746: "Vine varieties", ISBN 0-19-860990-6 This put Merlot just behind Cabernet Sauvignon's .
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Merlot — Blogs, Pictures, and more on WordPress
... blog, Winemaking, Clovis Point, gilles martin, Long Island, Long Island Merlot Alliance ... merlot madcap. ... Ramontalcinos say no to Merlot — 7 comments ...en.wordpress.com/tag/merlot/Merlot | Enobytes Wine Blog
Enobytes Wine Blog. May 05. Improving the Reputation of Merlot ... In my opinion, the Merlot retailing in the $25 –$35 price range far outshines ...enobytes.org/wine_blog/tag/merlot/Judging Merlot - The Pour Blog - NYTimes.com
Swanson freely admits that the vast majority of merlot in the world is insipid stuff. ... California merlot is not a wine I dream about, and I do have an ...thepour.blogs.nytimes.com/2006/05/09/judging-merlot/It's a grey's world
Also, as you will see in a photo at the end of this blog, I've had problems typing. ... Name: merlot. Location: san francisco, california, United States ...www.greysmatter.net/Cabernet Merlot — Blogs, Pictures, and more on WordPress
... Dirty laundry, gewürztraminer, hush, Merlot, okanagan wine festival, Penticton, ... Tags: Wine, cabernet, Merlot, Australia. Featured Wine Ingredient Kit ...en.wordpress.com/tag/cabernet-merlot/Merlot is a red wine grape that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. Merlot-based wines usually have medium body with hints of berry, plum, and currant. Its softness and "fleshiness", combined with its earlier ripening, makes Merlot a popular grape for blending with the sterner, later-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon, which tends to be higher in tannin. Along with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, Merlot is one of the primary grapes in Bordeaux wine where it is the most widely planted grape. Merlot is also one of the most popular red wine varietals in many markets. This flexibility has helped to make it one of the world's most planted grape varieties. , Merlot was estimated to be the third most grown variety at globally, with an increasing trend.J. Robinson (ed) The Oxford Companion to Wine Third Edition, Oxford University Press 2006, pg. 746: "Vine varieties", ISBN 0-19-860990-6 This put Merlot just behind Cabernet Sauvignon's .
History
Researchers at University of California, Davis believe that Merlot is an offspring of Cabernet Franc and is a sibling of Carménère and Cabernet Sauvignon. The earliest recorded mention of Merlot was in the notes of a local Bordeaux official who in 1784 labeled wine made from the grape in the Libournais region as one of the area's best. The name comes from the Occitan word "merlot", which means "young blackbird" ("merle" is the French word for several kinds of thrushes, including blackbirds); the naming came either because of the grape's beautiful dark-blue color, or due to blackbirds' fondness for grapes. By the 19th century it was being regularly planted in the Médoc on the "Left Bank" of the Gironde. Oz Clarke Encyclopedia of Grapes pg 129-133 Harcourt Books 2001 ISBN 0151007144 After a series of setbacks that includes a severe frost in 1956 and several vintages in the 1960s lost to rot, French authorities in Bordeaux banned new plantings of Merlot vines between 1970 and 1975. J. Robinson Vines, Grapes & Wines pg 91-94 Mitchell Beazley 1986 ISBN 1-85732-999-6
It was first recorded in Italy around Venice under the synonym Bordò in 1855. The grape was introduced to the Swiss, from Bordeaux, sometime in the 19th century and was recorded in the Swiss canton of Ticino between 1905 and 1910. In the 1990s, Merlot saw a upswing of popularity in the United States. Red wine consumption, in general, increased in the US following the airing of the 60 Minutes report on the French Paradox and the potential health benefits of wine and the chemical resveratrol. The popularity of Merlot stemmed in part from the relative ease in pronouncing the wine as well as it softer, fruity profile that it made more approachable to some wine drinkers. E. Goldstein "Perfect Pairings" pg 148-152University of California Press 2006 ISBN 9780520243774
