My take On... Merlot

As a former sales rep for a major distributor of wine and spirits in the US, I witnessed, first hand, the catastrophic and rapid fall of merlot.

This decaying merlot that I speak of is the new world variety (specifically Californian), as, to this day, the right bank of Bordeaux doesn’t seem to have any trouble producing popular wines of prestige and prominence that fetch large dollar amounts, hence Chateau Petrus.

That said, what happened to our beloved new world merlot? Merlot was the first hot red varietal to emerge in America after the Chardonnay revolution of the 80’s. It allowed former Blue Nun, white zin and chardonnay aficionados to graduate to a red that offered a silky, fruity and an easy dinking style. It allowed people to experience the complexity and sophistication of red wine while impressing their not-so-wine-savvy friends with a red that drank easily and paired nicely with a variety of foods. Cabernet was far too abrasive for the casual palate thus putting California merlot on top. Merlot was in her prime.

Sadly, supply and demand forced the over planting, over production and the ultimate over saturation of a grape that the French have so masterfully produced for centuries creating a flabby, fruity, underdeveloped shell of what it was or could be.

Merlot was struck with a final blow in 2004 when actor Paul Giamatti said in the movie Sideways, “No, if anyone orders Merlot, I'm leaving. I am NOT drinking any (expletive starting with F) Merlot!”

Since, merlot’s popularity has declined dramatically. Luckily, this decline has left a cache of delicious vintage juice to be drunk for the discerning red wine lover. In addition, there are still several excellent producers (Duckhorn, Shafer and Pride Mountain to name a few) in California and beyond making great merlot to this day.

Drink your merlot and drink it proudly.

Don’t even get me started on the fanatical consumption and resulting shortage of drinkable pinot noir caused by “Sideways”… another story for another day.