Accessory white grape
Merlot Blanc
How to read this
Capitals mark the stressed syllable. “ahn” is a nasal vowel: say it through the nose, with no n. The French r comes from the back of the throat. The recording is the reference.
Merlot Blanc is a white Bordeaux grape that DNA markers show to be a cross of Merlot and Folle Blanche, recorded in the Bourgeais from 1898 and down to about 15 ha by 2015.
Merlot Blanc is a white grape that DNA markers show to be a cross of Merlot and Folle Blanche (Boursiquot and colleagues, 2009). The name suggests a white form of Merlot; the study found a child of Merlot instead, born of a cross, in the same paper that named Magdeleine Noire des Charentes and Cabernet Franc as Merlot’s own parents. In the Bordeaux rules it is an accessory white, with Colombard and Ugni Blanc.
The earliest record in my library is the 1898 edition of Bordeaux et ses vins, the reference book of the Bordeaux trade by Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, in the Bourgeais. M. Cathelineau had planted the clos Peychaud, near the domaine de Paty, with Sémillon, Sauvignon, and Merlot Blanc, and Château Laurensanne gave about 2 ha of white vines to Sémillon, Sauvignon, Merlot Blanc, and Muscadelle. In 1922 the guide gave Laurensanne about 4 ha of white vines with the same 4 grapes, and found Merlot Blanc at Génissac, in the Cubzadais, and in the Blayais, always beside Sémillon, Sauvignon, or Muscadelle.
Its other parent is the vine the 1922 guide calls “Enrageat ou Folle-Blanche”, giving Folle-Blanche as its name around Cognac. The area of Merlot Blanc fell from 4,891 ha in 1958 to 578 ha in 1988 and 14.9 ha in 2015, by the figures Julia Riffault charted in 2017 from Galet and FranceAgriMer; Agreste, the farm ministry’s statistics service, counts 561 ha lost in the Gironde between 1988 and 2018.
Oldest record in my library: Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, Bordeaux et ses vins, 7th edition, 1898 (Bourgeais)
The family
Merlot shown by DNA markers
Folle Blanche shown by DNA markers
Merlot Blanc
- Boursiquot et al. 2009; Lacombe et al. 2013; VIVC 7655
The discovery: In 2009, Boursiquot and colleagues, in the Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research, showed Merlot Blanc to be a cross of Merlot and Folle Blanche.
The names
Other names in VIVC: Merlau Blanc, Merlaut Blanc.
In today’s rules
Accessory (white) in 3 of the appellations and designations on this site; accessory (sparkling) in 1.
- Accessory · white
- Bordeaux (to 30%), Bordeaux Supérieur (to 30%), Graves de Vayres
- Accessory · sparkling
- Crémant de Bordeaux
Area planted
- 4,891 ha planted area, Bordeaux/Gironde, 1958
Julia Riffault, 'Recensement, préservation et valorisation des cépages modestes du Bordelais', Rencontres des cépages modestes, November 11, 2017, slides 'Évolution à Bordeaux de 1958 à 2015'; source printed on slides: 'Cépages et vignobles de France, Tome III, Galet 2006 + données France AgriMer 2017', https://rencontres-des-cepages-modestes.com/rencontres/2017/2017_documents/cepagemodestes_bordelais.pdf, accessed 2026-10-12 - 3,387 ha planted area, Bordeaux/Gironde, 1968
Julia Riffault, 'Recensement, préservation et valorisation des cépages modestes du Bordelais', Rencontres des cépages modestes, November 11, 2017, slides 'Évolution à Bordeaux de 1958 à 2015'; source printed on slides: 'Cépages et vignobles de France, Tome III, Galet 2006 + données France AgriMer 2017', https://rencontres-des-cepages-modestes.com/rencontres/2017/2017_documents/cepagemodestes_bordelais.pdf, accessed 2026-10-12 - 1,776 ha planted area, Bordeaux/Gironde, 1979
Julia Riffault, 'Recensement, préservation et valorisation des cépages modestes du Bordelais', Rencontres des cépages modestes, November 11, 2017, slides 'Évolution à Bordeaux de 1958 à 2015'; source printed on slides: 'Cépages et vignobles de France, Tome III, Galet 2006 + données France AgriMer 2017', https://rencontres-des-cepages-modestes.com/rencontres/2017/2017_documents/cepagemodestes_bordelais.pdf, accessed 2026-10-12 - 578 ha planted area, Bordeaux/Gironde, 1988
Julia Riffault, 'Recensement, préservation et valorisation des cépages modestes du Bordelais', Rencontres des cépages modestes, November 11, 2017, slides 'Évolution à Bordeaux de 1958 à 2015'; source printed on slides: 'Cépages et vignobles de France, Tome III, Galet 2006 + données France AgriMer 2017', https://rencontres-des-cepages-modestes.com/rencontres/2017/2017_documents/cepagemodestes_bordelais.pdf, accessed 2026-10-12 - 103.4 ha planted area, Bordeaux/Gironde, 1999
Julia Riffault, 'Recensement, préservation et valorisation des cépages modestes du Bordelais', Rencontres des cépages modestes, November 11, 2017, slides 'Évolution à Bordeaux de 1958 à 2015'; source printed on slides: 'Cépages et vignobles de France, Tome III, Galet 2006 + données France AgriMer 2017', https://rencontres-des-cepages-modestes.com/rencontres/2017/2017_documents/cepagemodestes_bordelais.pdf, accessed 2026-10-12 - 14.9 ha planted area, Bordeaux/Gironde, 2015
Julia Riffault, 'Recensement, préservation et valorisation des cépages modestes du Bordelais', Rencontres des cépages modestes, November 11, 2017, slides 'Évolution à Bordeaux de 1958 à 2015'; source printed on slides: 'Cépages et vignobles de France, Tome III, Galet 2006 + données France AgriMer 2017', https://rencontres-des-cepages-modestes.com/rencontres/2017/2017_documents/cepagemodestes_bordelais.pdf, accessed 2026-10-12
In the books
“M. Cathelineau bought the clos Peychaud two years ago, next to the domaine de Paty, and planted it with the white vines Sémillon, Sauvignon, and Merlot Blanc.”
M. Cathelineau a acheté il y a deux ans, à coté du domaine de Paty, le clos Peychaud qu'il a complanté en cépages blancs sémillon, sauvignon et merlot blanc.
“About 2 hectares given to white vines on stony soil carry the fine grapes: Sémillon, Sauvignon, Merlot Blanc, and Muscadelle.”
Deux hectares environ consacrés aux vignes blanches sur sol pierreux présentent les cépages fins; sémillon, sauvignon, merlot blanc et muscadelle.
“Planted with fine vines, such as Cabernet, Pressac, and Merlot for the red; Sémillon, Muscadelle, and Merlot Blanc for the white”
Complanté de cépages fins , tels que : cabernet , pressac et merlot pour le rouge ; sémillon , muscadelle et merlot blanc pour le blanc
Timeline
- 1898Merlot blanc is named among the fine white varieties planted in the Bourgeais (Château Laurensanne) and at clos Peychaud.
Cocks & Féret, Bordeaux et ses vins, 7th ed., 1898 - 1958About 4,891 ha in Bordeaux; 578 ha in 1988; 14.9 ha in 2015.
J. Riffault 2017 (Rencontres des cépages modestes), citing Galet 2006 and FranceAgriMer 2017, https://rencontres-des-cepages-modestes.com/rencontres/2017/2017_documents/cepagemodestes_bordelais.pdf - 2012Pedigree shown as Merlot × Folle Blanche.
Pedigree diagram as printed in Robinson, Harding & Vouillamoz, Wine Grapes (2012) - 2018'Merlot B' loses 561 ha in the Gironde between 1988 and 2018.
Agreste Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Études n°7 (June 2020, rectificatif), '1. Le foncier viticole: la Gironde', C. Lavaud and J. Bonotaux, p. 73, Figure 2 'Évolution des surfaces par encépagement entre 1988 et 2018, en hectare' (sources printed: RGA 1988, CVI 2018), https://draaf.nouvelle-aquitaine.agriculture.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/AgresteNAEtudes_7juin2020_FFvitiGironde_RECTIFICATIF_cle0edc51.pdf, accessed 2026-10-12
In the lab
More than 7 studies and theses in the Bordeaux Reviews library mention this grape.
Sources
- Röckel et al. (2026): Vitis International Variety Catalogue, www.vivc.de, passport id 7655, accessed October 2026
- Boursiquot, J.-M. et al., 'Parentage of Merlot and related winegrape cultivars of southwestern France: discovery of the missing link', Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research 15 (2):144-155, 2009, doi:10.1111/j.1755-0238.2008.00041.x
- Lacombe, T. et al., 'Large-scale parentage analysis in an extended set of grapevine cultivars (Vitis vinifera L.)', Theoretical and Applied Genetics 126 (2):401-414, 2013, doi:10.1007/s00122-012-1988-2
- INAO, cahier des charges AOC Bordeaux, modification adopted by the CNAOV on February 7, 2023 (national opposition procedure draft), V.1 and VI.2, https://extranet.inao.gouv.fr/fichier/CDCBordeaux-PNO2023.pdf, accessed October 2026
- Charles Cocks & Édouard Féret, Bordeaux et ses vins classés par ordre de mérite, 7th ed., 1898, Bourgeais
- Charles Cocks & Édouard Féret, Bordeaux et ses vins classés par ordre de mérite, 9th ed., 1922 (Laurensanne; Génissac, 387007; Saint-André-de-Cubzac, 387059; Blayais, 387111)
- Charles Cocks & Édouard Féret, Bordeaux et ses vins classés par ordre de mérite, 9th ed., 1922, Ampélographie, p. 17, 'Enrageat ou Folle - Blanche' and 'Folle - Blanche ( dans les environs de Cognac )'
- Julia Riffault, 'Recensement, préservation et valorisation des cépages modestes du Bordelais', Rencontres des cépages modestes, 11 Nov 2017, slides citing Galet, Cépages et vignobles de France t. III (2006) and FranceAgriMer 2017, https://rencontres-des-cepages-modestes.com/rencontres/2017/2017_documents/cepagemodestes_bordelais.pdf, accessed October 2026
- Agreste Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Études n°7 (June 2020, rectificatif), C. Lavaud and J. Bonotaux, '1. Le foncier viticole: la Gironde', p. 73, Figure 2 (RGA 1988, CVI 2018), https://draaf.nouvelle-aquitaine.agriculture.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/AgresteNAEtudes_7juin2020_FFvitiGironde_RECTIFICATIF_cle0edc51.pdf, accessed October 2026
- Röckel et al. (2026): Vitis International Variety Catalogue, www.vivc.de, accessed October 2026
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