{"id":3737,"date":"2014-05-27T23:48:25","date_gmt":"2014-05-27T23:48:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/winecountrygetaways.com\/?page_id=3737"},"modified":"2014-05-28T00:00:42","modified_gmt":"2014-05-28T00:00:42","slug":"merlot-wine-information","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/winecountrygetaways.com\/wine-enjoyment-guide\/wine-varietal-chart\/merlot-wine-information\/","title":{"rendered":"Merlot Wine Information"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"color: #000000;\">Merlot is very simaler to Cabernet Sauvignon. It is a lighter and mellower version of Cabernet Sauvignon. It is widely grown in California and until recent times has been one of the most popular California wines. For a variety of reasons, including poking fun at Merlot in the popular movie &#8220;Sideways,&#8221; Merlot has fallen out of favor by many.<\/p>\n<ul style=\"color: #000000;\">\n<li>The Merlot is a red wine grape that is abundantly grown in France\u2019s Bordeaux, and in particular in the St. Emilion region. In California, Merlot was once only used as a blending grape to soften Cabernet Sauvignon. In California Merlot has become immensely popular as its own varietal.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul style=\"color: #000000;\">\n<li>Approximtely 50,000 acres are planted with Merlot vineyards in California.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul style=\"color: #000000;\">\n<li>Merlot pairs with many meat dishes, barbeque foods, and mild to medium cheese dishes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul style=\"color: #000000;\">\n<li>Merlot has aromas and flavors of blackberry, plum, current, chocolate and vanilla. Merlot tends to have more herbaceous characteristics than Cabernet Sauvignon.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul style=\"color: #000000;\">\n<li>Merlot is a medium-bodied wine but can be made in a big style, much like a Cabernet Sauvignon.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul style=\"color: #000000;\">\n<li>Merlot in general is not capable of aging as long as Cabernet Sauvignon.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul style=\"color: #000000;\">\n<li>Merlot is widely grown in the Napa Valley and the Sonoma areas of Dry Creek Valley, Alexander Valley, and Sonoma Valley.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Visit these wine trails to find wineries making delicious Merlot<\/h2>\n<ul style=\"color: #000000;\">\n<li><a style=\"color: #990099;\" title=\"Top Boutique Wineries Along Highway 29\" href=\"https:\/\/winecountrygetaways.com\/wine-regions\/napa-valley\/top-boutique-wineries-along-highway-29\/\">Napa Valley &#8211; Highway 29<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a style=\"color: #990099;\" title=\"Silverado Wine Route\" href=\"https:\/\/winecountrygetaways.com\/wine-regions\/napa-valley\/silverado-wine-route\/\">Napa Valley &#8211; Silverado Trail<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a style=\"color: #990099;\" title=\"Alexander Valley Wineries in Sonoma\" href=\"https:\/\/winecountrygetaways.com\/wine-regions\/healdsburg\/alexander-valley-wineries-in-sonoma\/\">Sonoma County &#8211; Alexander Valley<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a style=\"color: #990099;\" title=\"Dry Creek Valley Wine Region\" href=\"https:\/\/winecountrygetaways.com\/wine-regions\/healdsburg\/russian-river-wineries\/\">Sonoma Country &#8211; Dry Creek Valley<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Sonoma Valley Wineries\" href=\"https:\/\/winecountrygetaways.com\/wine-regions\/sonoma-valley\/\">Sonoma Valley<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Merlot is very simaler to Cabernet Sauvignon. It is a lighter and mellower version of Cabernet Sauvignon. It is widely grown in California and until recent times has been one of the most popular California wines. For a variety of reasons, including poking fun at Merlot in the popular movie &#8220;Sideways,&#8221; Merlot has fallen out &#8230; <a title=\"Merlot Wine Information\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/winecountrygetaways.com\/wine-enjoyment-guide\/wine-varietal-chart\/merlot-wine-information\/\" aria-label=\"More on Merlot Wine Information\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":3669,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":[],"ppma_author":[1885],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/winecountrygetaways.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3737"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/winecountrygetaways.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/winecountrygetaways.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winecountrygetaways.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winecountrygetaways.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3737"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/winecountrygetaways.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3737\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3738,"href":"https:\/\/winecountrygetaways.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3737\/revisions\/3738"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winecountrygetaways.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/winecountrygetaways.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winecountrygetaways.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=3737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}