Whats better a Merlot or a Cabernet Sauvighon?

Question

I don't think i spelled that last word right... but any who .. what is the difference in these red wines?

Answer 1

There are people who prefer Merlot and there are people who prefer Cabernet Sauvignon. It really is a matter of personal preference. In addition not all Merlots taste the same and not all Cabernet taste the same.

The fun thing about drinking wine is tasting lots of it and discovering what you like.

Cabernet Sauvignon is a rich full-bodied red wine. Aged in oak, this is a complex wine with cassis and blackberry flavors as well as hints of bell pepper. This is the classic wine to pair with red meats.

Merlot is a smooth, dry red wine. It is often described as having the flavors of boysenberry, black cherry, herbs, and mocha. Merlot is best with poultry and grilled meats, but actually goes well with most foods.

Answer 2

Due to the fact that they are different types of red grapes, they have a different range of tastes when they are produced into wines. Merlots tend to be lighter and fruitier while Cabernet Sauvignon's are heavier and sometimes "chewy". Just to give you an example, I would normally put a Merlot with a pasta dish and save the Cabernet Sauvignon for a nice juicy steak.

Answer 3

It's spelled Cabernet Sauvignon, good try. I think the Merlot will be sweeter and heavier, but I'm not really an oenophile (wine expert)!

Answer 4

Carbernet! Merlot is not that easy going down (at least in my opinion)

Answer 5

Cab is way more preferable - you may also want to try a Barbera from the Piedmont region of Italy - great value!!

Answer 6

They're different grapes. So they'll have a different flavor profile. It's hard to say which is "better" in that sense.
It really comes down to preference and quality.

Answer 7

chilean merlot yummyyyyyyyyyy

Answer 8

It really does depend on what you want them for...

Cabernet Sauvignon is a variety of red grape mainly used for wine production, and is, along with Chardonnay, one of the most widely-planted of the world's noble grape varieties. The principal grape in many Bordeaux wines, it is grown in most of the world's wine regions, although it requires a long growing season to ripen properly and gives low yields. Many of the red wines regarded as among the world's greatest, such as Red Bordeaux, are predominantly made from Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. World-class examples can improve for decades, and remain drinkable for a century.


Old vine Cabernet Sauvignon at Chateau Montelena in Napa Valley. As the grapes mature they will darken to a purple hue.The particularly thick skin of the Cabernet Sauvignon grape results in wines that can be high in tannin which provides both structure and ageability. This varietal, while frequently aromatic and with an attractive finish, also tends to lack mid-palate richness and so is often blended with lower tannin, but "fleshy" tasting grapes, particularly Merlot and, especially in Australia, Shiraz / Syrah. Cabernet Franc is often used in blends with Cabernet Sauvignon to add aromatics. As a group, Cabernet Sauvignon wines are generally full-flavored, with a stronger flavor than Merlot for instance, and with a smooth and lingering "finish".

Cabernet Sauvignon has a well defined aroma. In Old World wines, particularly those made in Bordeaux, this is characterised by a smell of violets, blackcurrant, cedar and spice. New World wines of this grape can often share the aromas of their Old World counterparts, but are more often dominated by aromas of chocolate, ripe jammy berries, oak, pepper and earth. In Australia, there is often a strong smell of eucalyptus, particularly in wines made in Coonawarra. One of the most characteristic aromas of warm-climate examples is cassis (blackcurrant), while cherry and other red berry notes are not uncommon. Cooler-climate examples often reveal greener, herbaceous notes, such as eucalyptus or green pepper/capsicum. There is, however, a great deal of variation in flavor depending on the region, winemaking technique, seasonal weather, and bottle age. Nonetheless the wines retain a remarkable ability to be recognizably Cabernet.

Cabernet Sauvignon, like all noble wine grape varieties, is of the species Vitis vinifera, and genetic studies in the 1990s indicated it is the result of a cross between Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc.

Merlot
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This article is about the Merlot wine grape. For other meanings see Merlot (disambiguation).
Merlot is a red wine grape that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. Merlot-based wines usually have medium body with hints of berry, plum, and currant. Its softness and "fleshiness", combined with its earlier ripening, makes Merlot an ideal grape to blend with the sterner, later-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon. This flexibility has helped to make it one of the most popular red wine varietals in the United States.[1]

Contents [hide]
1 Major Regions
2 Origins and DNA
3 History
4 Viticulture
5 White Merlot
6 In popular culture
7 References



[edit] Major Regions
Merlot is produced primarily in France (where it is the third most planted red grape)[2], Italy (where it is the country's 5th most planted grape)[3] and California, Romania and on a lesser scale in Australia, Argentina, Canada, Chile, New Zealand, South Africa, Switzerland, Croatia, Hungry, Slovenia, and other parts of the United States such as Washington State and Long Island. It grows in many regions that also grow Cabernet Sauvignon but tends to be cultivated in the cooler portions of those areas. In areas that are too warm, Merlot will ripen to early. [4]

In the traditional Bordeaux blend, Merlot's role is to add body and softness. Despite accounting for 50-60% of overall plantings in Bordeaux, the grape tends to account for an average of 25% of the blends-especially in the Graves and Médoc. However, in the regions of Pomerol and Saint-Emilion it is not unusual for Merlot to comprise the majority of the blend. [2] One of the most famous and rare wines in the world, Château Pétrus, is almost all Merlot.

In Italy, the Merlot grape is often blended with Sangiovese to give the wine a similar softening effect as the Bordeaux blends. [3] The Strada del Merlot is a popular tourist route through Merlot wine countries along the Isonzo river. [5]

In Hungary, Merlot complements Kékfrankos, Kékoportó and Kadarka as a component in Bull's Blood. It is also made into varietal wine known as Egri Médoc Noir which is noted for its balanced acid levels and sweet taste. [6]


[edit] Origins and DNA

Merlot grapes on the vineThe earliest recorded mention of Merlot was in the notes of a local Bordeaux official who in 1784 labeled wine made from the grape in the Libournais region as one of the area's best. By the 19th century it was being regularly planted in the Médoc on the Right Bank of the Gironde. [4]

It was first recorded in Italy around Venice under the synonym Bordò in 1855. The grape was introduced to the Swiss, from Bordeaux, sometime in the 19th century and was recorded in the Swiss canton of Ticino between 1905 and 1910. [4]

Researchers at University of California, Davis believe that the grape is an offspring of Cabernet Franc and is a sibling of Carmenere. [4]

Until 1993, the Chilean wine industry mistakenly sold a large quantity of wine made from the Carmenere grape as Merlot. In that year, genetic studies discovered that much of what had been grown as Merlot was actually Carmenere, an old French variety that had gone largely extinct in France due to its poor resistance to phylloxera, which as of 2006 does not exist in Chile.

The labeling Chilean Merlot is a catch-all to include wine that is made from a blend of indiscriminate amounts of Merlot and Carmenere. With Merlot ripening 3 weeks earlier then Carmenere, these wines differ greatly in quality depending on harvesting. [7]


[edit] History
After a series of setbacks that includes a severe frost in 1956 and several vintages in the 1960's lost to rot, French authorities in Bordeaux banned new plantings of Merlot vines between 1970 and 1975. [5]

In Merlot early history with California wine, the grape was used primarily as a 100% varietal wine until wine maker Warren Winiarski encouraged taking the grape back to its blending roots with Bordeaux style blends. [8]


[edit] Viticulture
Merlot grapes are identified by their loose bunches of large berries. The color has less of a blue/black hue then Cabernet Sauvignon grapes and with a thinner skin, the grapes also fewer tannins. Also compared to Cabernet, a Merlot grape tends to have higher sugar content and lower malic acid. [9]

Merlot thrives in cold soil, particularly ferrous clay. The vine tends to bud early which gives it some risk to cold frost and it thin skin increases its susceptibility to rot. It normally ripens up to two weeks earlier then Cabernet Sauvignon. Water stress is important to the vine with it thriving in well drained soil more so then at base of a slope. [10]

The vine is susceptible to over cropping and pruning is a major component to the quality of the wine that is produced. Wine consultant Michel Rolland is a major proponent for reducing the yields of Merlot grapes to improve quality. [11] The age of the vine is also important, with older vines contributing character to the resulting wine. [9]

A characteristic of the Merlot grape is the propensity to quickly over ripen once it hits its initial ripeness level, sometimes in a matter of a few days. There are two schools of thought on the right time to harvest Merlot. The wine makers of Château Pétrus favor early picking to best maintain the wine's acidity and finesse as well as its potential for aging. Others, such as Rolland, favor late picking and the added fruit body that comes with a little bit of over-ripeness. [11]


[edit] White 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. White Merlot was reputedly first marketed in the late 1990s.

In Switzerland, a type of White Merlot is made but is often considered more a rosé. [3]


[edit] In popular culture
Merlot was mocked by a main character in the film Sideways who encouraged people to drink Pinot Noir instead.

Merlot consumption was also ridiculed in the play "Verhonda on the Verge", in a scene where the character Verhonda explains that her time with a gentleman friend "wasn't very good", then belches loudly and says "and neither was the merlot."