Edited by Aj
There’s a bottle of red on the table, the kind of evening where the light is going golden and nobody is in a rush. Someone pours a glass of merlot and the room smells immediately of warm plum and something earthy underneath. It’s an easy wine to enjoy. And that, oddly enough, is exactly why it spent years being underestimated.
Spiritly covers wine for curious drinkers who want to actually understand what’s in their glass, not just nod along. Merlot is a perfect place to start. It’s one of the most planted grape varieties on earth, it’s genuinely approachable, and it has a depth that most people never get around to discovering because they’ve already written it off as boring. It isn’t.
Merlot in One Sentence
Merlot is a soft, medium-to-full-bodied red wine made from a blue-black grape variety that tends to produce flavours of ripe plum, dark cherry and chocolate, with gentler tannins than many other red wines.
Tannins, if that word is new to you, are the compounds that create that dry, grippy feeling in your mouth after a sip of red wine. High tannins can feel a little rough on the palate, especially if you’re newer to reds. Merlot sits on the softer end of that scale, which is a big part of its appeal.
How a Grape Became the World’s Peacemaker
Merlot originates in Bordeaux, the famous wine region in southwest France. The name is thought to come from the French word for blackbird, merle, possibly because the birds were fond of eating the ripe grapes. Whether or not that story is fully accurate, it’s a good one.
For centuries, merlot played a supporting role in Bordeaux blends, softening the sharper edges of cabernet sauvignon and adding body and fruit. But it was always there, always important. Eventually winemakers realised it could carry a wine entirely on its own. The region of Pomerol in Bordeaux produces some of the most sought-after merlot-based wines in the world, including Pétrus, a name that serious wine collectors say with something close to reverence.
Then came the 2004 film Sideways. The main character, a wine snob, declares his hatred of merlot in a memorable scene. Merlot sales dropped noticeably in the United States not long after. It was a strange cultural moment for a grape variety that had done nothing wrong. The good news is that the wine world has largely moved on, and merlot is quietly having its moment again.
From Vine to Glass: How Merlot Gets Made
Like all red wines, merlot starts with harvesting ripe grapes, crushing them, and fermenting the juice together with the grape skins. That skin contact is important. It’s where the colour, the tannins and a lot of the flavour compounds come from.
After fermentation, the wine is usually aged in oak barrels for a period of months. Oak adds flavour, typically vanilla or spice notes, and allows a small amount of oxygen to reach the wine, which helps it soften and develop. How long the wine spends in oak, and whether it’s new or older oak, is one of the biggest decisions a winemaker makes. New oak adds more flavour. Older barrels contribute less but still let oxygen do its work.
Warmer climates tend to produce riper, more generous merlot. Cooler climates produce something leaner and more structured. That’s why a merlot from Hawke’s Bay in New Zealand can taste quite different from one grown in a cooler European region, even if they’re made from exactly the same grape.
Styles Worth Knowing
Plush and Fruit-Forward
This is the merlot most people have met. Ripe dark plum, black cherry, a little cocoa on the finish. It’s generous and round in the mouth, easy to drink with food or without. New World regions, including Hawke’s Bay and parts of California, tend to produce this style. It’s not simple, just open and approachable.
Structured and Earthy
Cool-climate merlot has more grip, more tension. You’ll find notes of red fruit rather than black, sometimes a hint of dried herbs or damp earth. This is the style you’re more likely to find from Bordeaux or from higher-altitude sites. It’s a wine that rewards patience. Open it an hour before you pour.
Blended Merlot
Merlot has always been a natural blending partner, most often with cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc. In a blend, it softens the sharper tannins of cabernet and adds body and fruit. Many of the red blends coming out of Hawke’s Bay lean heavily on merlot without advertising the fact. It’s doing a lot of quiet work in bottles you might already love.
Where to Start: Five Bottles Worth Opening
- Esk Valley Gimblett Gravels Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec (Hawke’s Bay), a Hawke’s Bay classic that shows how well merlot leads a blend. Dark fruit, good weight, reliable year after year.
- Trinity Hill Merlot (Hawke’s Bay), from one of New Zealand’s most respected red wine sites, this shows what warm, free-draining gravel soils do for the variety.
- Te Mata Estate Merlot/Cabernets (Hawke’s Bay), a merlot-led blend from Te Mata’s own Hawke’s Bay vineyards, plush and approachable young.
- Château Greysac (Bordeaux, France), a well-known, reasonably accessible French Bordeaux that shows the earthier, more structured side of merlot without requiring a serious cellar investment.
- Duckhorn Merlot (Napa Valley, United States), from the winery that made merlot its calling card with its very first vintage in 1978. Rich, polished, and worth trying at least once.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is merlot a heavy red wine?
Not especially. It sits in the medium-to-full-bodied range, which means it has more weight than a pinot noir but less than a big shiraz or cabernet sauvignon. The tannins are generally soft, so it doesn’t feel as heavy as it sometimes sounds on paper.
What food goes well with merlot?
It’s a flexible food wine. Roast lamb, beef dishes, mushroom-based pasta, aged cheeses and hearty stews all work well. Because the tannins aren’t aggressive, it also handles tomato-based sauces better than many other reds. For more ideas on food and drink pairing, there’s plenty to explore on the site.
How is merlot different from cabernet sauvignon?
Cabernet sauvignon tends to be firmer, more tannic and slower to soften. Merlot is rounder and riper, with fruit that’s more immediately generous. They’re often blended together precisely because they balance each other out. If you find cabernet a bit too grippy, merlot is usually the gentler introduction to structured red wine.
Are there good New Zealand merlots to try?
Yes. Hawke’s Bay is the natural home of New Zealand merlot, with the Gimblett Gravels subregion producing some particularly good examples. The warm, dry conditions suit the variety well, and several producers there have been refining their merlot for decades. It’s an area worth paying attention to if you’re exploring regions and producers in more depth.
