Merlot, which means “little blackbird” in French, probably developed from a variation on the name Merle in Bordeaux patois. It is not certain whether the name reflected a comparison to the color of the birds or a testament to the fact that blackbirds in Bordeaux love feasting on this luscious grape variety. Either way, the use of the name merlot has only been found in the literature since the last 200 years. A report in 1784 referred to merlot as one of the better libournais blending varieties.

We can trace the origins of merlot varietal back to the 1st Century in France but merlot as the noble Bordeaux varietal standing on its own doesn’t appear in the literature until the 1800s. Merlot, malbec and a few others owe their existence to the ‘biturica’ variety from which it has evolved. Ancient writings from Pliny claim that the vitis biturica developed from a cross between an imported Roman variety and a vine growing in the wilds of Iberia - what is today Spain and Portugal. It is quite likely that our present day merlot, as well as cabernet, malbec and carmenere, evolved from vitis biturica. Other names for merlot around the world include medoc noir, merlau, petit merle, vitraille, crabutet noir and bigney.

Merlot, relative to the other Bordeaux varieties, is early ripening, making it desirable to years when winter rains arrive early. It tolerates and can even thrive in soils that are too moist or cold for top class cabernet sauvignon. Cooler climates (like Long Island) can produce wonderfully complex Merlot wines with fruit driven flavors and aromas not found in warmer climes. It is calculated that the cultivation of merlot has grown to 68,000 hectares in Europe since the 19th century when it was considered a secondary variety. Bordeaux is the most famous home of this variety and today accounts for the majority of the vineyard acreage in the region. It has long been the dominant grape of St. Emillion and Pomerol. Merlot is currently third behind carignan and grenache as the most widely planted red grape variety in France. It is also found in northeast Italy in the vineyards on the Venetian/Friulana plain, Chile, Argentina, and Australia. The most recent and most exciting history of the merlot varietal takes place in the United States.

It is not clear when the first merlot vines were brought into the U.S., as there is almost nothing written about this topic. It is possible that the plant material was originally brought into the country at the turn of the century by French born vintners such as Georges de Latour. By the mid -1940’s most of the merlot plant stock was thereafter reproduced at various nurseries in the United States for further planting. Local nurserymen reproduced vine cuttings taken in California while plants were also being selected for hardiness at a number of eastern nursery operations.

The first official planting of merlot vines in the United States was by the Louis Martini Winery in Napa Valley, who originally planted the vines for blending with cabernet sauvignon. The first labeled release of this wine was in 1972 - a multi-vintage blend from 1968 thru 1970. Mr. Martini did not realize that within the decade there would be an explosion in the popularity of Merlot wine.

Although California is the largest producer of Merlot wine in the U.S., it has not always been the leader in quality wine production. Taking advantage of the huge interest in Merlot wine in the 1990’s, California over planted the variety and over cropped thousands of acres in order to meet the demand. The result has been a steady decline on the quality of merlot grapes produced in California and has culminated the famous saying from the movie Sideways: “I’m not drinking any f@#$% Merlot!”

In 1974, two other regions of the U.S. also established their first planting of merlot. One was Washington State, where the first Merlot wine was produced in 1976 from Preston Premium Wines in Pasco.  In 2005 merlot grape production accounted for approximately 3,900 acres in the ground in Washington State - all of them on irrigated vineyard sites.

The other, the North Fork of Long Island in New York. It was in 1974 that the first merlot vines were planted by two growers planted merlot on Long Island - Alex and Louisa Hargrave of Hargrave Vineyard and David Mudd and his son Stephan of Mudd’s Vineyard. The Mudd’s 1974 planting was on the south side of Suffolk County Route 48 highway and no longer exists.  Hargrave’s initial planting was pulled out when it was discovered that the certified virus-free merlot vines purchased from a California nursery actually had a virus.

At the time, growers had little experience with the merlot variety but it soon caught on as the Mudds and Hargraves saw its affinity for the local conditions. Mudd’s Vineyard was particularly influential in spreading the gospel of merlot. As a vineyard installation company, they were responsible for establishing over 50% of Long Island’s vineyard plantings. One of their most consistent recommendations was for planting merlot.

1978 saw the beginning of the modern development of the Long Island wine industry. The first mention of Merlot on a Long Island wine label was Hargrave Vineyard’s 1978 Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot, as a 65%/35% blend.  Many vineyards planted vines that year including Bedell Cellars, Lenz Winery, The Bridgehampton Winery and Pindar Vineyards. In 1980, Hargrave Vineyard released the first Long Island varietal Merlot wine.  By 1984, a number of these producers had also released small productions of varietal labeled Merlot to high critical praise. Long Island Merlots were consistently being awarded gold medals and “Best of New York” awards in regional wine competitions.

As more growers developed experience with the merlot variety and saw how well it performed in the vineyard and winery, the comparisons to Bordeaux started to increase. The similarities were so evident that a symposium of Bordeaux wine producers and researchers was assembled for 1988. Called “Bringing Bordeaux to Long Island,” it was a 2-day symposium on the production of Bordeaux red wine and how it related to Long Island. In attendance were Mme. H. de Lencquesaing, Proprietor of Chateau Pinchon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande and her winemaker J.J. Godin, Paul Pontallier, General Manager of Chateau Margaux, Dr. Alain Carbonneau, Director of Viticultural Research, INRA/Bordeaux, and the famous soil scientist Dr. Gerard Sequin of the University of Bordeaux. The highlight of the conference was not provided by any of the French quests but by a local researcher Larry Perrine of the Long Island Horticultural Research Laboratory (LIHRL) in Riverhead, New York. Mr. Perrine’s presentation on the climate and soil comparisons of Long Island to Bordeaux turned many heads and cemented in the minds of the industry what many had assumed all along - Long Island’s climate was more similar to Bordeaux than to any other winegrowing region in the United States.

The symposium was a turning point for the industry as Long Island wines and vines were evaluated and compared to those in Bordeaux. The result was a dramatic shift in quality wine production with a particular emphasis placed on the viticultural techniques used to ripen red grapes. The consensus of the group from Bordeaux was that Long Island had tremendous potential to produce world-class red wines and that Merlot wine was the brightest star of the bunch.

In 1990, the symposium concept was revisited - with the emphasis this time on the merlot varietal only. The star of the conference was Michele Rolland, famous for producing merlot in his native Pomerol and as a consultant to merlot producers around the globe.

During the 1990’s, merlot plantings on Long Island increased dramatically. In 1990, the first merlot vines were planted in the Hamptons at Channing Daughters and soon thereafter at Wolffer Estate Vineyards. More new growers coming into the region saw and heard of the success of merlot in more established vineyards and committed to further plantings.
Today merlot acreage on Long Island is approximately 700 acres, making up 30% of the overall vineyard acreage on Long Island and the most widely planted wine grape in the region.