Bordeaux – Grape Varieties - Merlot

Merlot is an early budding variety, making it vulnerable to spring frosts, and mid ripening, giving the advantage that the grapes can be picked before early autumn rain. It is susceptible to coulure, drought and most botrytis bunch rot, making sorting necessary to maintain quality. All these hazards can reduce yields.

In Bordeaux, an important benefit is that it can ripen fully in cooler years, in comparison to the later ripening Cabernet Sauvignon. 

Merlot is the dominant variety in the whole of the Right Bank and in the cooler northern Medoc, which has more fertile soils with a high clay content.

It ripens on these cooler soils and water-holding capacity of clay enables it to produce the large berry size typical of Merlot. 

It also reaches higher sugar levels and therefore higher potential alcohol levels than either of the Cabernets. 

This was an advantage in earlier decades but, with a warming climate, is less so today.

As a variety, it contributes medium to pronounced intensity fruit, strawberry and red plum with herbaceous flavours in cooler years; cooked blackberry, black plum in hot years. 

It contributes medium tannins and medium to high alcohol to the Bordeaux blend.