Merlot

Plum-and-cocoa Right Bank workhorse and Cabernet's blending partner.

Merlot is the world's second-most-planted red after Cabernet Sauvignon, and the dominant grape on Bordeaux's Right Bank in Saint-Émilion and Pomerol. Compared with Cabernet, it ripens earlier, runs lower in tannin, and tends toward riper, plumper fruit — plum, black cherry, cocoa. Cool-climate sites can produce structured, age-worthy wines (Pomerol's Pétrus is the canonical example); warm-climate plantings yield approachable, fruit-forward bottlings. Merlot fell briefly out of US consumer favor after the 2004 film Sideways, but the grape remains commercially central to Bordeaux blends worldwide.