All the medallists from the Global Merlot Masters 2025

Despite its sometimes capricious character, Merlot's palate-pleasing fruitiness and velvety texture can be a beguiling combination, reports Patricia Stefanowicz. AFTER A year of tasting some stunning wines based on Merlot, the judges were looking forward to the Global Merlot Masters 2025. With supple texture and juicy fruit, this variety is appreciated among consumers, and the best examples are deservedly recognised as great wines by connoisseurs too. But Merlot is a difficult variety to get right. Seemingly easy to grow, the big, juicy grapes achieve high sugars, which means that controlling alcohol levels in increasingly warm vintages can be tricky. For growers, deciding when to pick can be difficult. Ideally, a winemaker wants to pick late enough to avoid underripe, green flavours and stalky tannins, but before sky-rocketing sugars and overripeness produce excessive alcohol levels (sometimes over 15%), and prune and raisin flavours, or sunburn. A great wine grower wants to strike a balance. And some, of course, do. The 2025 Global Merlot Masters was a fairly small competition, with fewer wines than many of our other Global Masters, possibly because Merlot is often used as a component in multi-variety blends, apart from dominating in right bank Bordeaux, especially Pomerol, and in New World single-varietal wines. There were a number of delightful wines throughout the price ranges. The best showed generous, sweet, plummy fruit and silky tannins, while retaining freshness of acidity. Oak was fairly evident, and generally well-handled and nicely integrated. With the less expensive wines, the judicious use of oak appeared to give more interest and weight. Certainly, at under £15, oaked wines seemed more appealing, and there was a Gold medal winner from Church Road in Hawke’s Bay, and Silver medals awarded to Fleur du Cap in South Africa, Kavaklidere in Turkey, and Maison Castel from the Languedoc. At just over £15, Valdivieso’s Single Vineyard Merlot from the Maule Valley earned a well-deserved Gold.

Unoaked 100% Merlot Rosé

Winery	Name of wine	Region	Country	Vint.	Medal
£10-£15
Durbanville Hills	Merlot Rosé	Durbanville	South Africa	2024	Silver

 

Unoaked 100% Merlot

Winery	Name of wine	Region	Country	Vint.	Medal
Under £10
Félix Solís Avantis	Pico Andino Merlot	Valle Central	Chile	2024	Silver
Viña Casa Solís	La Piqueta Reserva Merlot	Colchagua	Chile	2024	Silver
SC Cramele Recas	Calusari Merlot	Timis	Romania	2023	Silver
Félix Solís Avantis	Las Alturas Merlot	Valle Central	Chile	2024	Bronze
Viña Casa Solís	Merlot	Colchagua	Chile	2024	Bronze
£10-£15
SC Cramele Recas	Explicit Merlot	Timis	Romania	2023	Silver
Kavaklidere Saraplari	Ancyra Merlot	Aegean	Turkey	2023	Silver

 

Oaked 100% Merlot

Winery	Name of wine	Region	Country	Vint.	Medal
Under £10
SC Cramele Recas	Paparuda Merlot	Timis	Romania	2023	Silver
Navigo	Siaj Merlot	Dobrogea	Romania	2021	Bronze
Cantina Colli Morenici	Debbio	Veneto	Italy	2019	Bronze
£10-£15
Church Road	McDonald Series Merlot	Hawke's Bay	New Zealand	2022	Gold
Maison Castel	Reserve M Merlot	Languedoc	France	2023	Silver
Wakefield/Taylors Wines	Estate Merlot	South Australia	Australia	2024	Silver
Fleur du Cap	Unfiltered Merlot	Stellenbosch	South Africa	2022	Silver
Kavaklidere Saraplari	Egeo Merlot	Aegean	Turkey	2022	Silver
Canetsfontein	Merlot	Coastal Region	South Africa	2020	Bronze
£15-£20
Valdivieso Winery	Single Vineyard Merlot	Maule	Chile	2020	Gold
Durbanville Hills	Collectors Reserve The Lighthouse Merlot	Durbanville	South Africa	2022	Silver
Zorgvliet Wines	Merlot	Stellenbosch	South Africa	2022	Silver
Journey's End	V2 Merlot	Stellenbosch	South Africa	2018	Bronze
£20-£30
Bodegas Bianchi	Bianchi Particular	Mendoza	Argentina	2022	Gold
Crama Gabai	Merlot Oak Cask	Colinele Dobrogei	Romania	2021	Silver
£30-£50
Vignamaggio	Merlot di Santa Maria	Tuscany	Italy	2017	Gold
Cecchetto Giorgio	Sante Rosso IGT Marca Trevigiana	Veneto	Italy	2022	Gold
Pillitteri Estates Winery	Exclamation Merlot	Niagara Peninsula	Canada	2020	Silver
Yedi Bilgeler Winery	Bias Priene Merlot	Izmir	Turkey	2022	Bronze
£50-£70
Hoosegg by Philip Shaw	Mountain Dragon	Orange	Australia	2018	Gold
Hoosegg by Philip Shaw	Mountain Dragon	Orange	Australia	2019	Gold
Arínzano	Merlot Agricultura Biológica	Navarra	Spain	2021	Gold
£70-£100
Black Stallion Estate Winery	Limited Release Merlot	California	USA	2021	Grand Master

 

Oaked Merlot Blend

Winery	Name of wine	Region	Country	Vint.	Medal
Under £10
Concha y Toro	Casillero del Diablo Merlot	Central Valley	Chile	2022	Silver
£10-£15
Coustaut Joel	Château Coustaut la Grangeotte	Bordeaux	France	2020	Silver
Zorgvliet Wines	Keurtjieskloof Red	Stellenbosch	South Africa	2022	Silver
Luis Felipe Edwards	Gran Reserva Merlot	Colchagua	Chile	2022	Silver
De Bortoli Wines	Winemaker Selection Merlot	SE Australia	Australia	2024	Silver
£15-£20
Concha y Toro	Marques de Casa Concha Merlot	Maule Valley	Chile	2022	Silver
Château Jean Faux	Les Sources	Bordeaux	France	2020	Silver
£20-£30
Château Haut-Plantade	Yvon Mau Grands Crus	Pessac-Léognan	France	2019	Gold
Château Jean Faux	Bordeaux Rouge Superieur 'Sainte Radegonde'	Bordeaux	France	2017	Gold
Crama Gabai	Gabai Blend	Colinele Dobrogei	Romania	2021	Silver
£30-£50
Church Road	1 Merlot	Hawke's Bay	New Zealand	2021	Silver