red grape
Merlot
Natural crossing of Cabernet Franc × Magdeleine Noire des Charentes
Earlier-budding and earlier-ripening than Cabernet Sauvignon, with larger, thinner-skinned berries; favours cooler, water-retaining clay and limestone soils — hence its dominance on Bordeaux's Right Bank and its supporting role on Left Bank gravel.
Structure tendencies
- body
- medium to full
- tannin
- medium — rounder and suppler than Cabernet
- acidity
- medium
- alcohol
- medium to high (clay-grown Merlot ripens generously)
tendencies in prose, as read by critics/consensus — not measured ordinals
Classic descriptors
fruit
plum
in your cellar: 14 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Pontet-Canet 2021Château Feytit-Clinet 2015Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016Château Léoville-Poyferré 2005Mayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019Château Larmande 2005Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Gloria 2022Château Gloria 2020Château Laroque 2022Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010Massolino Barolo 2016Château Pontet-Canet 2022black cherry
in your cellar: 15 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Pontet-Canet 2021Château Feytit-Clinet 2015Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016Château Léoville-Poyferré 2005Château Léoville-Poyferré 2010Mayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019L'Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2020Château Larmande 2005Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Gloria 2020Château Laroque 2022Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010Massolino Barolo 2016Château Pontet-Canet 2022blackberry
in your cellar: 11 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Pontet-Canet 2021Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016Château Léoville-Poyferré 2005Château Léoville-Poyferré 2010Mayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019L'Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2020Château Larmande 2005Château Gloria 2022Château Gloria 2020Château Pontet-Canet 2022floral & herbal
dried herbs
in your cellar: 8 bottlesMayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019L'Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2020Château Larmande 2005Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Laroque 2022Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010Massolino Barolo 2016Château Pontet-Canet 2022earth & mineral
iron
in your cellar: 11 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Pontet-Canet 2021Château Feytit-Clinet 2015Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016Château Léoville-Poyferré 2005Mayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019Château Larmande 2005Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Gloria 2020Massolino Barolo 2016Château Pontet-Canet 2022oak & spice
dark chocolate
in your cellar: 11 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Pontet-Canet 2021Château Feytit-Clinet 2015Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016Mayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019L'Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2020Château Larmande 2005Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Gloria 2022Château Gloria 2020Château Pontet-Canet 2022tertiary
truffle
in your cellar: 2 bottlesChâteau Feytit-Clinet 2015Château Laroque 2022tobacco
in your cellar: 13 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Pontet-Canet 2021Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016Château Léoville-Poyferré 2005Château Léoville-Poyferré 2010Mayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019Château Larmande 2005Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Gloria 2022Château Gloria 2020Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010Massolino Barolo 2016Château Pontet-Canet 2022wet earth
in your cellar: 3 bottlesChâteau Feytit-Clinet 2015Château Léoville-Poyferré 2010L'Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2020Plum is Merlot's signature fruit. In blends it brings flesh and mid-palate roundness to Cabernet's frame; on Pomerol's iron-rich clay it gains the classic iron/truffle savour.
In your cellar, from
In your cellar · 11
Les Forts de Latour 2017Pauillac AOC · 2017$163.99Château Pontet-Canet 2021Pauillac AOC · 2021$84.99Château Feytit-Clinet 2015Pomerol AOC · 2015$114.99Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016Pauillac AOC · 2016$109.99Château Léoville-Poyferré 2005Saint-Julien AOC · 2005$169.99Château Léoville-Poyferré 2010Saint-Julien AOC · 2010$174.99Château Larmande 2005Saint-Émilion AOC · 2005$59.99Château Gloria 2022Saint-Julien AOC · 2022$49.99Château Gloria 2020Saint-Julien AOC · 2020$44.99Château Laroque 2022Saint-Émilion AOC · 2022$39.99Château Pontet-Canet 2022Pauillac AOC · 2022$139.99