The “Estranged” Merlot
If you remember the movie Sideways, you know the greatest irony of the movie was at the end, Miles drank a beautiful French Merlot. Throughout the entire story, one of the main characters’ themes was hating the varietal, and touting the virtues of Pinot Noir, instead. The cultural change that this one movie made on the wine industry had ripple effects for decades. This is a fine example of how powerful Hollywood is. History books have already been written describing, based on the success of a movie with a silly story, that thousands of Merlot grape vines were ripped up throughout California (and consequently, the temperamental and higher priced Pinot Noir grape became forever more popular). Sideways became an historic wine industry movie.
Merlot, an original “Right Bank” varietal of Bordeaux – meaning it is most widely grown on the banks of the Dordogne River on the north side. Home to sub regions famous since before the 1855 French Classification- only Saint Emillion is a “classified growth” since 1955. The other sub regions include Blaye, Cotes de Bourg, Fronsac, Graves de Vayres, and Lalande de Pomerol. Look for these regions on a label to find a French Merlot based wine. Limestone and clay dominate the soil of the Right Bank, where Merlot thrives on the extra moisture held by the clay soil. The wines are smooth and supple in their youth with up front raspberry, black cherry, blueberry, blackberry, spice, chocolate and herbal notes. Right Bank wines show lower acid and tannins than those of Cabernet based wines just a stone’s throw away in the Left Bank.
Here in the US Cabernet is king, and Merlot faced a battle after the “Sideways Effect”, though prices were falling prior to the release of the movie in October of 2004, as growers had somewhat over produced the varietal. Today, nearly 20 years later, Merlot is generating a comeback, with the USDA reporting increased plantings and prices of the varietal. France still accounts for the majority of Merlot production, followed by Italy, then the US, Spain and Chile.
Speaking of Chile- a “fun fact” about Merlot was the case of mistaken identity! The grape was believed to have flourished from the 1970’s to the 1990’s. Post Phylloxera plantings were confused in many vineyards. The Merlot was ripening differently and had a distinctly different flavor than Merlot grown elsewhere. Alas, a French researcher in 1994 discovered Carmenere grapes growing in a vineyard marked Merlot, which DNA sampling later confirmed. Carmenere (another approved Bordeaux original varietal) had been thought to be extinct in Chile, when it was indeed being marketed as Merlot. Today Merlot is doing well in Chile, along with Carmenere. Here a few great bottles of Merlot you can find at Ed’s.
Mate’ Mantus Merlot Tuscany This 100% Merlot spends 18 months in French oak barrels. A Roman vineyard over 2,000 years ago, the Mate family settled in this village near Montalcino in 1990. Ferenc Mate is an international best-selling author and his wife, Candace, a painter. They fulfilled their dream of renovating an ancient abandon farm in the hills of Tuscany where their neighbors are the famous Gaja wine making family. The mineral and white stone of the terroir show through in the finish with soft acidity, plush fruit, black cherry and velvety tannins. Production is limited with about 4,000 cases made. We give it three bones.
Meeker Merlot Handprint, Alexander Valley, CA Charles and Molly Meeker bought their first vineyard at the end of West Dry Creek Road in Sonoma in 1977. In 1984 with Charles as a part time winemaker, Meeker produced some well-regarded wines. In the meantime, Charlie’s career as a Hollywood executive took off, and they hired a full-time winemaker while he was running Metro Goldwyn Mayer. By 1999 Charlie had returned to Sonoma full time and the winery expanded. Today, Charlie’s son Lucas has assumed the role, as Charlie passed away in 2021. The winery is still family run and produces several varietals. This 100% Merlot sourced from both Dry Creek and Alexander Valley regions offers a well-balanced and elegant nose of cherry pie, with a deep core structure of blackberry and red earth, toasted vanilla bean and a long finish. The package is beautiful as well with the artist painted handprint. We give it two bones.
La Playa Estate Merlot Chile The Estate operates in Valle Central of Chile, with property in many of the country’s growing regions. La Playa offers some incredible value wines with a heavy commitment to the land. This Merlot is cheerful and boasts great dark cherry and rich blueberry flavors, with hints of vanilla and oak. The estate wines are certified Vegan and 1% of sales goes to help with Coastal Water resources. The winery uses no chemical weed control, and only uses native yeasts and no GMO’s. They use cover crops and recycled organic matter and have been estate grown and bottled since 1980. We give this Merlot two bones.
Chateau Yon St Emillion In the heart of Libournais district lies St Emillion, this vineyard overlooks an iconic Romanesque Church and 13th Century Tower. Sustainable in practice since 2011, the estate is flanked by limestone vineyards. An appealing nose aromatic of pepper and black cherry. 90% Merlot with 10% Cabernet Franc aged in French oak for 12 to 14 months. We give it two bones.
Whether Merlot from Europe, the US or any wine growing area of the New World, today’s Merlot is very different than that of 20 or 30 years ago. We hope you’ll come by and check out the Global selection of this no longer estranged varietal. If Cab is reigning King, Merlot is surely the Queen.
By CRBrown
