Merlot
Bordeaux’s second great red. Dominates the Right Bank (Pétrus, Cheval Blanc) and softens Cabernet on the Left Bank. Plush, approachable, age-worthy in serious form.
About Merlot
Merlot is Bordeaux’s second great red grape and the dominant variety on the region’s Right Bank — home to Pétrus, Le Pin, Cheval Blanc, Lafleur, and the other legendary Pomerol and Saint-Émilion estates. The grape’s editorial reputation has had a complicated arc: globally popular in the 1980s-1990s as a softer, more approachable alternative to Cabernet Sauvignon, then unfairly damaged by the 2004 film *Sideways* (“I’m not drinking any f---ing Merlot!”), then re-evaluated in the 2010s as serious wine drinkers recognized that the world’s most expensive red wine (Pétrus) is essentially pure Merlot. The grape’s thin skin, early ripening, and lower tannin produce plush, approachable wines compared to Cabernet — but the best Right Bank Merlot-dominated bottlings age 25-40+ years and develop extraordinary complexity. The grape softens Left Bank Bordeaux blends (typical Cabernet-Merlot blends are 60-80% Cab + 20-40% Merlot) and serves as a co-equal partner in Tuscan blends.
Variety profile
Editorial notes
Pétrus is essentially 100% Merlot — the world’s most expensive red wine demonstrates the grape’s solo capability. The 2004 *Sideways* damage has largely faded; serious Merlot-dominated wines are again editorially respected.