Merlot

Merlot has a reputation for being soft and interchangeable. The twelve bottles here show what the grape can do when someone takes it seriously: in Bordeaux, where it comes from, on the limestone of the Massís del Garraf south-west of Barcelona, on the Utiel-Requena plateau and in Valais. Reds, two rosés and blends, from CHF 23.

At Bernard and Marie-Odile Hébrard's 2.24-hectare family estate in Saint-Loubès, between Bordeaux and Libourne, Merlot makes up 80 per cent of the Réserve Traditionnelle 2019, the rest is Cabernet Franc, CHF 23. The Caus Lubis 2006 from Can Ràfols dels Caus is pure Merlot from a vineyard modelled on Pomerol, and it has spent 16 years in bottle. Francisco Martínez Bermell planted the vines for Vera de Estenas' Martínez Bermell Merlot 2023 in 1981, on the highest plot of the estate. And in Viña de Eufemia's Noria Tinto, one fifth Merlot sits alongside Bobal from old vines, for CHF 23.

More reds under Red wine, more from the Garraf under Penedès. The portraits: Château Aux Graves de la Laurence and Can Ràfols dels Caus. Free shipping from 12 bottles.