Merlot blanc is a white

French wine French wine is produced all throughout France, in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France is one of the largest wine producers in the world, along with Italian, Spanish, and Amer ...

grape variety This list of grape varieties includes cultivated grapes, whether used for wine, or eating as a table grape, fresh or dried (raisin, currant, sultana). For a complete list of all grape species including those unimportant to agriculture, see Viti ...

that came from a natural crossing of the

Bordeaux wine Bordeaux wine ( oc, vin de Bordèu, french: vin de Bordeaux) is produced in the Bordeaux region of southwest France, around the city of Bordeaux, on the Garonne River. To the north of the city the Dordogne River joins the Garonne forming the ...

grape Merlot and the

Cognac Cognac ( , also , ) is a variety of brandy named after the commune of Cognac, France. It is produced in the surrounding wine-growing region in the departments of Charente and Charente-Maritime. Cognac production falls under French appella ...

grape Folle blanche. The grape is distinct from ''Merlot gris'' which is a pink-skinned

color mutation The propagation of grapevines is an important consideration in commercial viticulture and winemaking. Grapevines, most of which belong to the ''Vitis vinifera'' family, produce one crop of fruit each growing season (vine), growing season with a lim ...

of the red wine grape Merlot and is sometimes used in ''

vin gris ''Vin gris'' () is a variant of '' rosé'' wine made from red grapes, in particular '' Pinot noir'' and ''Pinot gris''. ''Pinot noir'' is a black grape, but can also be used to make rosé or white wine. When the grapes are brought to the winery and ...

'' and rosé wines. Plantings of Merlot blanc were first discovered in 1891 but cuttings of the vine have not been widely propagated and the variety is very rare. It is not used to make the

sweet Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugars. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds are sweet, including aldehydes, ketone ...

White Zinfandel White Zinfandel is an off-dry to sweet rosé wine. Originally the result of a stuck fermentation and fortuitous accident, White Zinfandel is made from the Zinfandel wine grape that would otherwise produce a bold and spicy red wine. White Zinfa ...

-style wine ''White Merlot'' that is made by some

California wine California wine production has a rich viticulture history since 1680 when Spanish Jesuit missionaries planted ''Vitis vinifera'' vines native to the Mediterranean region in their established missions to produce wine for religious services. I ...

producers. Those wines are made from a '' saignee'' of red Merlot wine.

Relationship to other grapes

When Merlot blanc was first discovered, it was thought that the vine was a white-berried color mutation of Merlot in a similar relation to how

Grenache blanc Grenache blanc (also known as garnatxa blanca in Catalonia) is a variety of white wine grape that is related to the red grape Grenache. It is mostly found in Rhône wine blends and in northeast Spain. Its wines are characterized by high alcohol ...

is a color mutation of Grenache and

Pinot blanc Pinot blanc is a white wine grape. It is a point genetic mutation of Pinot noir. Pinot noir is genetically unstable and will occasionally experience a point mutation in which a vine bears all black fruit except for one cane which produces white ...

is a mutation of Pinot noir. However, DNA analysis conducted by the University of California-Davis and noted ampelographers such as

Carole Meredith Carole P. Meredith is an American grape geneticist and was a professor at the Department of Viticulture and Enology of University of California, Davis. Career Before she retired in 2003, Meredith and her research group pioneered the use of DN ...

confirmed that Merlot blanc was distinct from Merlot (itself the result of a crossing of the Bordeaux grape Cabernet Franc and the

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

/ Charente grape Magdeleine Noire des Charentes) but rather was an offspring of Merlot. Inheritance analysis of 55

genetic marker A genetic marker is a gene or DNA sequence with a known location on a chromosome that can be used to identify individuals or species. It can be described as a variation (which may arise due to mutation or alteration in the genomic loci) that can be ...

s spread out over 9 chromosomes, showed that Merlot blanc was the result of a crossing of Merlot with the Cognac/

Armagnac Armagnac (, ) is a distinctive kind of brandy produced in the Armagnac region in Gascony, southwest France. It is distilled from wine usually made from a blend of grapes including Baco 22A, Colombard, Folle blanche and Ugni blanc, traditionally ...

grape Folle blanche. Merlot Equinox

Wine regions

Even though plantings of Merlot blanc are scarce, the grape is still a permitted a variety in the ''

Appellation d'origine contrôlée An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical bou ...

'' (AOC) wines of several

Bordeaux wine regions The wine regions of Bordeaux are a large number of wine growing areas, differing widely in size and sometimes overlapping, which lie within the overarching wine region of Bordeaux, centred on the city of Bordeaux and covering the whole area of the ...

including the general AOC Bordeaux (but not for wines labeled Bordeaux Supérieur). Here Merlot blanc can be used in up to 30% of the blend along with Semillon (which must make up at least 70% of the blend itself), Sauvignon blanc,

Muscadelle Muscadelle is a white wine grape variety. It has a simple aroma of grape juice and raisins like grapes of the Muscat family of grapes, but it is unrelated. DNA analysis has indicated that Muscadelle is a cross between Gouais blanc and an unid ...

Colombard Colombard (also known as French Colombard in North America) is a white French wine grape variety that is the offspring of Chenin blanc and Gouais blanc.winepros.com.au. This makes the grape the sibling of the Armagnac Meslier-Saint-François ...

, Mauzac,

Ondenc Ondenc is a white French wine grape found predominantly in the Gaillac region of southwest France. In the 19th century, it was a popular planting in Bordeaux but fell out of favor following the phylloxera epidemic due to poor yields and sens ...

and Ugni blanc. Merlot blanc destined for AOC wine production are limited to harvest yields no greater than 55 hl/ha (approximately 3.7 tons/acre with the finished wines needing to attain a minimum

alcohol level Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...

of at least 11%. Other Bordeaux AOCs that permit the usage of Merlot blanc in their designated white wines include Bordeaux-Haut-Benauge (maximum harvest yield of 50 hl/ha), Côtes de Bourg (but not the Côtes de Blaye) and Entre-Deux-Mers (which like the Côtes de Bourg limits harvest yield to 60 hl/ha). In all these AOCs Merlot blanc plays a supporting role to Semillon, Sauvignon blanc and Muscadelle.

Synonyms

Over the years Merlot blanc has been known under a variety of synonyms including: Merlau blanc, Merlaut blanc and Merlot bianco.

Vitis International Variety Catalogue The Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC) is a database of various species and varieties/cultivars of grapevine, the genus ''Vitis''. VIVC is administered by the Geilweilerhof Institute for Grape Breeding (''Institut für Rebenzüchtung Gei ...

(VIVC)
Merlot blanc
'' Accessed: April 18th, 2013

References

{{Reflist White wine grape varieties