Decanter Cellar: 20 top-rated Merlots

All together now, how does it go?

‘I am NOT drinking any –ing Merlot!’

Miles Raymond’s infamously snobbish cry of rage in Sideways reverberated in the physical world as much as the celluloid one.

After it was uttered across cinemas in the US in 2004, the line is credited with causing a 2% drop in sales of Merlot in the western United States, and a 16% rise in sales of Pinot Noir.

The trend was subsequently reported in other markets such as the UK too.

The mythology of the ‘Sideways Effect’ is considerably exaggerated but it’s not entirely untrue. If you ever stop and wonder how and why there’s so much unimpressive Pinot being flogged at bargain basement prices (particularly in the US), what you’re seeing is the (viti)cultural ripple caused by the film.

And the double irony is that what caused Miles to be such a Merlot-hater was (his ex-wife, but also) because it was a grape that had become mainstream thanks to another moment that entered the cultural zeitgeist – 60 Minutes’ infamous 1991 segment on the ‘French paradox’.

Although the study behind the report is now treated with considerable scepticism, at the time it caused a boom in wine sales in the US.

And Merlot, being ripe and plummy and not too angular as varieties go, was the perfect grape to introduce a generation of new drinkers to wine.

Which obviously meant it began to attract scorn from aesthetes…

The origins of Merlot

Merlot appears in the historical record in the late 18th century, with an official in Libourne recording a wine made from ‘Merlau’.

As with many grapes, there’s some debate around the origins of its name, though a plausible theory is that it’s named after the common blackbird – ‘merle’ in French but ‘merlau’ in the local Gascon.

Research in the 1990s would show that Merlot is descended from the line of Cabernet Franc, making it a sibling to Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Carmenere.

Its similarity to Carmenere famously led to Chile labelling a lot of wine as Merlot until the mistake was later rectified.

Merlot’s second parent remained a mystery until a chance discovery of a variety that had fallen into disuse in western France proved to be the missing link – Magdeleine Noire des Charentes.

Worldwide appeal

Merlot’s origins and rise to fame, like that of its half-sibling, Cabernet Sauvignon, is firmly Bordelais.

It’s impossible to imagine the Bordeaux Blend without Merlot and given the influence of Bordeaux on wine around the world, Merlot has become a thoroughly global variety found from the Andes to Hawkes Bay, and the Pomerol plateau to the shores of the Cape.

It thrives in cooler soils – which is why it’s so dominant on the clay of Bordeaux’s right bank – ripens early and can crop abundantly.

Its thin skins means it has less (though not negligible) colour and tannins than its Cabernet sibling and parent, making for fruity and approachable wines.

Like Cabernet it can turn its hand to inexpensive, everyday wines as well as taking its place in some of the world’s most expensive and sought-after labels.

Don’t count it out

But Merlot isn’t a variety that often has people swooning over it.

Indeed, it’s often seen as a bit of wallflower among red varieties. It’s not grand like Cabernet Sauvignon, not peppery like Syrah, not as romantic as Pinot Noir.

Merlot is too often seen as either cheap and simple (for people who ‘don’t really like wine’) or as a simple blending component.

But! Ignore Merlot at your peril. It may not be the flashiest variety but you can miss it when it’s not there.

Hard hit by the frosts in 2021, one of the criticisms of Bordeaux in that vintage was the lack of middle palate body and fruit – normally provided by Merlot. And there’s often a lot more Merlot in some of these famous left bank blends than one realises.

The blend of Château Haut-Brion 2015 for example (listed below) is 50% Merlot.

Furthermore, when handled by real masters, Merlot – alone – can unfurl itself in true splendour with freshness, finesse, depth and complexity; as the likes of Petrus and Masseto aptly demonstrate.

However, even those that do not come from such exalted estates would still grace any cellar or collection they find themselves in.

Listed below is a small selection of Merlot-based wines – mono-varietal or at least 50% of a blend – rated 95-points or more by Decanter between January and December 2025.

Click here to see more than 5,000 reviews of Merlot by Decanter

Decanter Cellar: 20 top-rated Merlot

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