When Paul Giamatti’s character Miles Raymond uttered his immortal lines in the film Sideways, “If anyone orders merlot, I’m leaving” winemakers around the world shuddered. His wine-geek character was heavily devoted to the perceived superiority of pinot noir, deriding merlot as a pedestrian grape not worth paying attention to. 

At the time the film was released in 2004, merlot made up almost 20 percent of California’s wine market. Fast forward a few years, and sales had dropped to 13 percent, with a rise in sales for pinot noir to 16 percent. This is widely called ‘the Sideways effect’, and has been a point of study and research by universities and varied wine bodies around the world. 

It hasn’t just been Miles’ words that have diminished the reputation of the grape variety; consumers had become fatigued with an almost cartoon character-like image of merlot as this soft, plummy, chocolatey, round and cuddly red – one that misses some of the zeitgeist of crunchier, refreshing red varieties. 

But a quiet merlot revolution, or return to form, is happening all over Australia. A low-key groundswell of producers are eschewing merlot’s commonly seen form for almost retro versions of the variety, where lighter-to-medium bodied, tannin-shaped, elegant renditions are emerging, particularly from younger generation and boutique wine producers. 

It marks a shift in mentality from making homogenised merlot styles, seeking inherent vitality from the variety, and perhaps greater drinkability in the warmer Australian climate, therefore. 

Adelaide Hills-based Sholto Broderick of Basket Range Wine is one of these younger-gen winemakers. Broderick works on the family property, which was planted with various traditional red varieties in 1978, including merlot. 

“You have to respect the variety, nurture it and let it do what comes most naturally,” he says. “In our cooler, elevated site, it feels better as a wine with fine tannins, set to medium weight or just under, not all ripe and squishy, but with tension and refreshment factor on hand.”

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He’s right. And fellow merlot enthusiast Erin Pooley from Little Frances Wines, based in Beechworth, Victoria, echoes the sentiment: “We’re bringing merlot back,” she says. “It’s about making better wines, finer wines maybe, not just warm and soft stuff, but wines that actually say something about where they’re grown, and feel a bit fresher.”

Yarra Valley winemaker Mac Forbes’ early experiences with merlot were pivotal: “They were lower in alcohol, elegant and matured exceptionally,” he explains. “They could live for decades, and came from a fine wine paradigm. Some of those wines are my greatest inspirations.”

Mac makes light and refined expressions of all the varieties he works with, with his Hugh Merlot produced only in exceptional vintages. “It’s time to see the variety in a new light,” Forbes says. “It’s not the one-trick pony many think it is; it belongs on a very high pedestal.” 

Try

Merite 343 Merlot 2019 ($24)
From self-professed merlot fiends, Merite has worked hard at sourcing the best merlot clones for its vineyard. This is a lighter, juicy, fresh-feeling expression of a very easy drinking nature. 

Little Frances Merlot 2021 ($32)
Made from cool-climate fruit grown in the King Valley of northern Victoria, we have a crunchy, expression that marries tart plum, blackberries, faint earthiness, with blood orange tang finishing the wine refreshing and vibrant.  

Mac Forbes Hugh Merlot 2017 ($75)
At the top of the tree for Aussie merlot, this is the wine that you drink in fancy glassware now, or lay down for several decades in a cellar. Tight tannins bring together dark cherry, mahogany wood spice notes and faint herbal lift. Epic.

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