Anyone who has seen the film “Sideways” will recall Miles and Jack at their dinner date when Miles vehemently objects to the very idea of drinking Merlot. How could anyone be so insulted by such a nice beverage?
Merlot, French for “little blackbird,” has been a fixture in the Bordeaux region since the late 1700s. It is grown primarily on the right bank of the River Dordogne, where it reaches its apex at Chateau Petrus. Here, the wine is almost always 100-percent Merlot and is the most expensive in the region. Good Merlot is also found in Chile, Australia and Italy, where it is blended with other grapes or bottled singly.
The controversy surrounding this noble grape started with the airing of “The French Paradox” on American television in 1991. The theory was that the fatty French diet and the country’s smoking habit were rendered benign due to the intake of large amounts of red wine. This quickly caught on here in the states, and people turned their attention to Merlot.
Round, plummy and easy-drinking, Merlot was much softer than the tannic Cabernets on the market and soon became the darling of newly minted wine drinkers. It wasn’t long afterwards that supply outstripped demand, and the wine started to suffer. Grapes from younger vines were harvested, and older vine crops were picked immature. Then it was found that that many of the vineyards in Chile contained not Merlot but Carménère, further reducing the availability of mature grapes.
The wines became thinner, more tannic and with a vegetal character that is the hallmark of “green” fruit. Demand for the quaff dropped, and wine drinkers moved on to other vinifera. Amazingly, it is the American northwest that put this favored drink back where it belongs.
The state of Washington burst onto the wine scene first with Riesling, then Chardonnay and Syrah, making good wines of unique character. But the Merlot grown here is considered some of the best of the West Coast. The combination of dry climate, abundant summer sunshine and cold winters that allow the fruit to go fully dormant makes the climate ideal for this Bordeaux varietal.
Look at a world map, and you’ll see that the cities of Seattle and Bordeaux are separated by a little more than three degrees of latitude. This imaginary line connects the quaint villages of France with the peaks and wild rivers of the 14 American Viticultural Areas of this northwest state.
The fact that these disparate places have one of the world’s great wines in common speaks to the ability of Merlot to adapt and produce anywhere in a temperate climate. This fact has not been lost on the state of California, where it is broadly understood that watery green quaffs are a thing of the past. Food-wise, merlot is equally adaptable, matching well with a variety of foods ranging from classic French cuisine to Southern barbecue to grilled meat.
So, try a Merlot, no matter what Miles says.
Keep sipping, Steve.
Author: Steve Juliana
