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Merlot is a variety of wine grape used to create a popular red wine. Merlot-based wines usually have medium body with hints of berry, plum, and currant.

Most connoisseurs consider it "easy to drink" when compared to other red wines, particularly its traditional blending partner Cabernet Sauvignon. Its softness and "fleshiness", combined with its earlier ripening, makes Merlot an ideal grape to blend with the sterner, later-ripening Cabernet. Many Merlots are made in a style popular with newer red wine drinkers (though to be clear, good Merlots accompanying appropriate food are popular with many regular wine drinkers as well).

It is produced primarily in France and California, and on a lesser scale in Australia, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Switzerland, Slovenia, and other parts of the United StatesThe United States of America also referred to as the United States U. America ¹ or the States is a federal republic in central North America, stretching from the Atlantic in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It shares land borders with Canada in. (Merlot from the state of WashingtonWashington is a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. It should not be confused with Washington, DC, the nation's capital. To avoid confusion, the state is often called Washington state . Although the state capital is Olympia, the largest c has been gaining recognition, and a small quantity of high-quality wine from this grape is also now being produced on the eastern end of Long IslandThis article is about Long Island in New York State. For other uses, see Long Island (disambiguation Long Island part of New York State, is an island off the North American coast, some 118 miles (190 km) long, and from 12 to 20 miles wide, extending from, New YorkNew York is a state in the northeastern United States whose U. postal abbreviation is NY . It is sometimes called New York State when there is need to distinguish it from New York City. History See: History of New York New York was one of the thirteen col.) Most wines from BordeauxBordeaux (Bordeu in Gascon) is a port city in the south-west of France, and is the prefecture (administrative capital) of the Gironde departement and the Aquitaine region''. Its inhabitants are called Bordelais''. The population of the metropolitan area ( contain at least some Merlot, and in the regions of PomerolPomerol is a village and wine growing region ( AOC) in France, near Bordeaux. Many small growers in this area of about 7. 60 km² produce a plummy, generous, long lived wine. Predominant grape variety used is Merlot, often together with Cabernet Franc. and Saint-Emilion it is not unusual for Merlot to comprise the majority of the blend. One of the most famous and rare wines in the world, Château PétrusChateau Petrus is the flagship wine of the Pomerol wine region in Bordeaux. The wine is made almost entirely from the Merlot grape. The chateau belongs to the family of the Libourne wine merchant Moueix. Wines. is almost all Merlot.

White Merlot is made the same way as its more famous cousin, White Zinfandel. The grapes are crushed, and after very brief or even no skin contact, the resulting pink "must" ferments. Some producers of White Merlot include Sutter Home, Forest Glen, and Beringer. It normally has a hint of raspberry flavor. White Merlot was reputedly first marketed in the late 1990s.