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.
Sales of “luxury” versions of the red increased 5 percent over the past year, according to Nielsen, while a 2016 Wine Intelligence report found it was the No. 1 varietal of choice for American drinkers of all ages. Restaurants sold 8 percent more merlots costing $100 and up, according to Winemetrics 2016 Fine Dining Report.
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.
A Grape’s Fall From Grace
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.