We do not know anything specific about the origins of Merlot.
Thanks to the characteristics of its foliage and the bouquet of its wine,
we can say that Merlot, like the Cabernets, is part of the line of
Carmenets. In addition, the place of appearance of Merlot could be in
the Libournais area. It is indeed in this region that “Merlau” is
mentioned for the first time. This is also the area where the most Merlot
is planted at the moment.
Carmenet is an old Médoc synonym for Cabernet Franc. It is also
the name given to the Bordeaux family of wine-grape varieties by Levadoux in
1948 in his classification of France's ampelographical assemblage into
eco-geogroups, varieties grouped by their region of origin and genetic relationships.
The Carmenet eco-geogroup of varieties from the region of Bordeaux
includes the blood relatives Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère,
Gros Cabernet, Merlot, Merlot Blanc and Hondarribi Beltza.
Cabernet Franc is involved as a parent or grandparent of all of
these varieties.
Fer and Hondarribi Beltza are natives of the País Vasco, the
Basque area of Spain on the French border, and are the grandparents of
Carmenère. As one of the grandparents of Carmenère, Fer is included in the
noble house of Carmenet.
The Carmenet family also includes Petit Verdot, which has no
genetic relationship with the Cabernet family and probably was domesticated
from wild grapevines of the Pyrénées- Atlantiques region south of Bordeaux.
The Carmenet eco-geogroup does not include the important Bordeaux
varieties Malbec and Sauvignon Blanc despite their genetic links with other
members of the Carmenet group, Malbec sharing a mother with Merlot, and
Sauvignon Blanc as the mother of Cabernet Sauvignon.
Merlot is not mentioned in technical documents until the end
of the 18th century. It was first mentioned in the Luxembourg
garden collection, under the name of Merlot or Bigney rouge,
before 1789. However, the real first botanical description, with a colored
plate, dates from RENDU (1857). According to this author, "it
goes well with Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon and it is admitted in the
Grands Crus of the Médoc". Likewise, PETIT-LAFITTE (1868) wrote:
“in Médoc, it is the most important blending grape variety although this
way of acting does not go back very far. Its blending with
Cabernet wine must ensures more lightness, more delicacy, more mellowness
and also it will also acquire the desired properties more quickly”. As
robins (blackbirds) eagerly seek it or even because of its color, it was
given the name of this bird: Merlot (petit merle: small blackbird).
Other synonyms were used: Merlotoir, Merlau, Plant Médoc,
Sémillon rouge, Alicante, Béguey, Picard, Crabutet noir, Sème dou flube
(Plant from the river), Sémilhoun rouge and Biguey rouge. “Biguey”, in
Gascon, designates a large vine planted in a trellis in front of the house. It
is therefore a variety capable of acquiring significant development. It could therefore just
as well designate a very vigorous grape variety as is the case of Merlot.
As for the denomination "Sémillon rouge", it undoubtedly alludes
to a certain morphological analogy with Sémillon B or to the origin
of grape variety: a seedling. We also find
this idea in the names "Plant Médoc" or "Sème dou flube".
This grape variety has morphological homogeneity, which tends
to prove its recent origin. Merlot is the most planted grape variety in
Bordeaux. In Aquitaine, it is only present in three departments: Dordogne,
Lot-et-Garonne and Gironde.
In Gironde, Merlot is the most planted grape variety (40% of
the total area was Merlot in 1988) and it occupy around 50% of
the area of the Gironde vineyard today. However, even in 1950, Merlot
was a secondary grape in some wine regions . It was
considered a producer of coarse wines and susceptible to
coulure. However, in 50 years two major events have allowed it to
become one of the main grape varieties in Gironde. It was planted
considerably after the frost of 1956 because of its speed of fruit setting. In addition, during the
reconversion of the Bordeaux vineyard area, it was used a lot because it
gives wines that age earlier than those of the Cabernets. At the start of the
1960s, it was already the most planted red grape
variety in Gironde. The surface area of Merlot has
continued to increase since that time in the Bordeaux vineyards,
