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Although I have no statistical or demographic evidence to support my view, it appears to me, based solely on personal observation, that women should be credited for Merlot’s spectacular rise to stardom in the 1990s. When the alleged health benefits derived from drinking red wine were touted in the press, Americans started to look for red alternatives to the ever-popular Chardonnay. But many women, and certainly a considerable number of men, found Cabernet, Zinfandel, and even Pinot Noir, a bit too strong or overly tannic. The solution was Merlot, and wine merchants along with marketers seemed to focus on the woman consumer.

Unfortunately, the chief asset of Merlot, its silky smoothness, could also be its major weakness—especially among lower priced offerings. Unless Merlot yields are carefully controlled in the vineyard, the result can be soft, flabby wines without any character and a horrendous vegetal nose. For years, I could never find an affordable Merlot that didn’t exude green bell pepper on the nose; or that didn’t seem to have a “hole” in its middle; or that, after the silky mouth feel and initial sweet-fruit flavors, didn’t leave you looking for more. Yet the wine remained, and still is today, extremely popular. Indeed, in almost any discussion of wine, when “Merlot” is heard can the word “fashionable” be far behind?

Luckily, and possibly owing to a more discriminating consumer base, Merlot producers seem, as of late, to have found a way to deliver well priced offerings with loads of character and, at times, even some complexity, and I can now easily recommend that any Tom, Dick, or Harriet, looking for a smooth wine, not swig but savor a Merlot.

Merlot is Bordeaux’s most widely planted grape, and, along with Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, one of the major components of red Bordeaux. In the classified growths of the Medoc, it is used largely as a blending grape to soften the harsher characteristics of Cabernet Sauvignon. Indeed, the French refer to Merlot as la robe (“the gown”) but to Cabernet Sauvignon as le corps (“the body”). On the right bank, however, especially in Pomerol and Saint Emilion, Merlot plays more of a leading role, In fact, one of the world’s most prestigious and, needless to say, expensive wines, Chateau Petrus, is made almost exclusively from Merlot. Moreover, because this grape is so profusely planted, a lot of generic red Bordeaux is more than likely made primarily from Merlot rather than Cabernet Sauvignon.

Elsewhere in France, Merlot is enjoying considerable popularity in the southwest as well as in the Languedoc-Rousillon from where you can find some good affordable bottles being imported.Merlot is also popular in northeastern Italy in Friuli, which, although known primarily for its white wines, produces some excellent, albeit expensive, examples of this varietal. This grape is also enjoying success in Umbria and Tuscany. In fact, Chianti producers have found Merlot to be a better, less overpowering, companion than Cabernet Sauvignon for blending with their native Sangiovese.

In the New World, Merlot can be found throughout California, in the Central Valley as well as in Napa and Sonoma. Although there were a few false starts with this varietal in the 60s and 70s, Merlot achieved a certain level of success in the 80s. Since the 90s, however, it has enjoyed spectacular success, although it may recently have reached a plateau. Elsewhere in the U.S., Merlot has done very well in Washington state’s Columbia Basin.

You can also find a number of notable bottles being imported from South America, especially from Argentina and Chile, whose soils and climates have proved ideal for producing excellent examples of this varietal.

Finally, the Australians have jumped on the Merlot bandwagon and are producing a considerable and increasing amount every year. For this tasting, we tried to collect a representative sampling from most of these districts. Almost all of the wines we tasted were very good to outstanding and amazed us with their quality to price ratio.

Merlot lends itself to being paired with a wide variety of foods, ranging from grilled meats to grilled mushrooms to seared tuna. You might also enjoy it with pasta and a Bolognese sauce. For this tasting, we kept it simple and chose grilled steaks.

As is our custom, we tasted the wines first on their own and then sampled them again with our meal. The wines are listed in the order in which they were tasted, which was determined first by alcohol levels and within each level by price.

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Cupcake Vineyards Merlot Central Coast 2009 $7.99 Pale ruby in color, this widely popular Merlot has a berry and cassis nose with some toast notes. Light to medium bodied, it offers well defined cherry flavors. Balanced in structure, it has a good finish with some hints of cocoa. It was beautiful with the steak.	Cupcake Vineyards Merlot
Bogle Merlot California 2009 $7.99 Pale ruby in color, this Merlot has a subdued earthy nose with mushroom notes. Light to medium bodied, it delivers dry red-berry flavors with beefy undertones. Well structured, with supple tannins, it has a lingering tart-berry finish. It complemented the steak nicely.	Bogle Merlot
McManis Family Vineyard Merlot California 2009 $8.98 Red ruby in color, this Merlot has eucalyptus aromas along with hints of vanilla and black fruit. Medium bodied, with rich vanilla and black-cherry flavors, it finishes nicely with strawberry notes. It is elegantly structured, with balanced fruit and acidity. It was like a sauce with the steak.	McManis Merlot
Casillero del Diablo Merlot Chile 2009 $9.99 This widely distributed Chilean Merlot has earthy aromas with notes of green bell pepper. Medium bodied, it delivers dry, earthy flavors and notes of clove, spice, and cedar. It’s well structured with supple tannins and hints of pastilles on the lingering finish. It boosted the beefy flavors of the steak and was great with our grilled portobello mushrooms. (In the interest of full disclosure, I work for the U.S. importer of this wine, but included it in this feature because of its quality and availability.)	Casillero del Diablo Merlot
Clos du Val Merlot Napa Valley 2008 $19.99 Pale opaque ruby in color, this Napa Merlot has an earthy mushroom nose with some hints of vanilla. Medium bodied and elegantly smooth, it delivers wild-mushroom flavors complemented by subtle notes of wild cherry. It is well structured, with a lingering tart-berry finish. It was very good with the steak.	Clos du Val Merlot
La Galiniere Merlot Vin de Pays Coteaux de Peyirac 2008 $7.98 This Merlot from Southern France is opaque ruby in color. It has a froward nose of green bell pepper and undertones of black cherry. Light to medium bodied, it is elegantly structured with balanced fruit, tannins, and acidity. It offers rich flavors of cherry and cedar with good persistency. There are lingering notes of clove and cedar on the finish. An excellent value. It added zest to both the steaks and the grilled mushrooms.	La Galiniere Merlot
Falesco Merlot Umbria IGT 2009 $10.98 This Italian Merlot is deep opaque ruby in color. It has a subdued blue-plum nose with some hints of hazelnut. Medium to full bodied and quite dry, it delivers flavors consistent with nose, complemented by some wild-cherry notes. The finish is smooth with hints of black fruit. It enrobed the steak with smoothness.	Falesco Merlot
Beringer Merlot Napa Valley 2007 $14.99 Deep ruby in color, this Napa Valley Merlot has a forward earthy nose with notes of dried fig. Full bodied and rich on the palate, it is loaded with black-fruit flavors complemented by spice notes. It has a long, lingering finish with whispers of tart raspberry. An elegant Merlot. It was almost Cabernet like with the steaks; rich.	Beringer Merlot
Wild Oak Merlot Sonoma County 2006 $12.99 Deep dark ruby in color, this Sonoma County Merlot has a restrained nose of cassis wild mushroom. It is medium bodied with supple tannins and flavors of toffee, black cherry, and a touch of spice. It has a dry, persistent finish with a hint of black pepper. It partnered beautifully with the steak.	Wild Oak Merlot

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