Merlot was once the fan-favorite red grape and wine. Then came 2004 hit movie Sideways, in which Miles, the pinot-noir-loving main character, trashes the varietal before heading into a bar: “If anyone orders merlot, I’m leaving,” he explodes. “I am not drinking any f---ing merlot.”
Interest in pinot skyrocketed, while the reputation of merlot tanked. In California, growers pulled out more than 10,000 acres of merlot grapes.
Such is the power of Hollywood.
But wine fashions are fickle, and now velvety merlot is experiencing a comeback. (...)
Don’t thank hip sommeliers for this reputation rehab. Most are in love with every grape but merlot—for the wine-geek Instagram crowd, the more obscure the better.
To me, the reason merlot was bound to return to favor was simple: It’s very often delicious. Its silky, cherry fruit and round texture give it an immediate appeal that tannic cabernet, its nearest wine rival, doesn’t have.
Merlot malaise was due to a lot more than Miles’s Sideways rant. Many California vintners responded to its popularity in the 1990s by rushing to plant more, often in places with the wrong soil and climate. A lot of those wines were simple and boring, or the opposite—too sweet, or amped up like flavor-bomb cabernets, with so much oomph and alcohol that drinking them was like getting a punch in the mouth.
John Williams, winemaker and owner of Napa’s Frog’s Leap, is convinced Sideways actually saved merlot, as those who had jumped on the bandwagon to cash in on the trend ended up pulling out bad vineyards.
At its peak in California, merlot accounted for nearly 60,000 acres of vines; now it’s down to a little more than 44,000. In recent years vintners have swapped in more popular cabernet vines, since those grapes and wines sold for more; others dumped their merlot into mass market brands and basic red blends.
But wineries that had long been devoted to high-quality merlot doubled down on cool clay soils, gentler winemaking, and less aging in new oak barrels to preserve subtler aromas and silkier textures. They worked hard to make and market the good stuff.
by Elin McCoy, Bloomberg | Read more:
Image: Sideways and uncredited
