Midalidare’s grape varieties: Merlot in a nutshell
Published on:
Last edited:
- Merlot is second-most planted grape in the entire world (Cabernet Sauvignon is number one),
- Merlot is the most planted variety in Bordeaux, its homeplace,
- It is believed that the first time the grape was used in making wine was in the late 1700s,
- Merlot is named after local black bird (called merlau/merle) who liked eating the ripe grapes on the vine,
- A grape born of the parent varieties Cabernet Franc and Magdeleine Noire des Charentes,
- Petrus, one of the most highly coveted (and counterfeited) wines on this planet is made almost entirely of Merlot,
- Merlot is a parent of the following new varieties: Carmine, Ederena, Evmolpia, Fertilia, Mamaia, Nigra and Rebo,
- Merlot has spawned a color mutation that is used commercially, a pink-skinned variety known as Merlot Gris,
- The variety known as Merlot Blanc is not a color mutation but rather an offspring variety of Merlot crossing with Folle Blanche,
- Merlot is planted in nearly every wine-producing country in the world.
