Malbec vs Merlot: Taste, Body, Regions and Food

Malbec and Merlot are both dry, fruity red wines from south-west France, and they are half-siblings, but they drink differently. Malbec is usually darker and fuller, with plum, blackberry and cocoa and fairly low acidity. Merlot is rounder and a little fresher, with cherry, plum and chocolate. Choose Malbec if you want a bold, plush red for grilled meat, and Merlot if you want a smooth, versatile red for a wider range of food.

Malbec vs Merlot at a glance

	Malbec	Merlot
Origin	South-west France (Cahors)	Bordeaux, south-west France
Best known today	Mendoza, Argentina	Bordeaux’s Right Bank, Washington, California
Sweetness (Wine Folly)	Dry	Bone dry
Body (Wine Folly)	Full	Medium-full
Tannin (Wine Folly)	Medium	Medium-high, softer than Cabernet
Acidity (Wine Folly)	Medium-low	Medium
Alcohol (Wine Folly)	13.5–15%	13.5–15%
Main flavors (Wine Folly)	Red plum, blackberry, vanilla, sweet tobacco, cocoa	Cherry, plum, chocolate, bay leaf, vanilla
Serving temperature (Wine Folly)	60–68°F (15–20°C)	60–68°F (15–20°C)

Tannin is the drying, grippy feeling a red wine leaves on your gums. Acidity is the fresh, mouthwatering tang. Body is how heavy the wine feels in your mouth.

How they taste

Malbec

Wine Folly describes Malbec as dry and full-bodied, with medium tannins and medium-low acidity. Its main flavors are red plum, blackberry, vanilla, sweet tobacco and cocoa; the vanilla and cocoa usually come from oak aging. Argentina’s national wine institute, the INV (Instituto Nacional de Vitivinicultura), describes Argentine Malbec as robust in body, deep garnet and violet in color, with aromas of plum, blackberry, cherry and violet that change with ripeness. The INV also credits it with high acidity, a reminder that altitude and climate change the style.

Merlot

Bordeaux’s wine council describes Merlot as deeply colored, with aromas of cherry, plum, fig and violet that turn toward chocolate or coffee with age, and a supple, rounded, velvety palate. Wine Folly calls it bone dry and medium-full in body, with medium acidity and medium-high tannins, and explains that Merlot’s grapes have thinner skins and fewer seeds than Cabernet Sauvignon’s, so less tannin is extracted during winemaking.

The real difference

On Wine Folly’s profiles, Malbec is the fuller, darker, lower-acid wine, and Merlot the slightly lighter, fresher one, with a touch more tannin. That surprises people who think of Merlot as the softest red on the shelf. In our view, the way to remember it is fruit color: Malbec leans to blackberry and plum, Merlot to cherry and plum, with chocolate in both when oak is involved.

Where they come from, and how they are related

The two grapes share a parent. The INV describes Malbec as an old cross of Magdeleine Noire and Prunelard, and Bordeaux’s wine council says Merlot is a cross of Cabernet Franc and Magdeleine Noire des Charentes. Wine Folly makes the same link on its Malbec page. That makes them half-siblings.

Malbec: from Cahors to Mendoza

Malbec’s French home is Cahors, in the Lot valley of south-western France. According to the Cahors wine body, the appellation is reserved for red wines in which Malbec makes up at least 70% of the blend, with Merlot and Tannat as the only permitted partners. So a bottle of Cahors can contain both grapes. Wine Folly lists Côt and Auxerrois as other names for Malbec.

Argentina made Malbec famous. The INV’s April 2025 report counted 47,064 hectares (about 116,300 acres) of Malbec at the end of 2024, 23.5% of all the country’s vines and 42.1% of its red wine grapes. Mendoza holds 84.7% of it. Wine Folly singles out Mendoza’s Uco Valley and Luján de Cuyo for consistently top-rated Malbec, and also points to Cahors and Walla Walla. Our Argentina wine guide covers the regions, with the INV’s newer end-2025 figures.

Merlot: Bordeaux and the world

Merlot is far more widespread. Wine Folly, citing University of Adelaide data for 2021, ranks it the second most planted wine grape in the world, behind Cabernet Sauvignon, with about 266,440 hectares (658,387 acres). In Bordeaux, the wine council says Merlot accounts for 60% of the region’s AOP plantings and is especially planted in Saint-Émilion, Pomerol and Fronsac, on the Right Bank. Wine Folly also highlights Washington’s Columbia Valley, Napa Valley, Chile and Italy, including Tuscany and Friuli-Venezia Giulia.

The two grapes often meet in the same bottle. Besides Cahors, Wine Folly notes that Malbec is blended with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon in Bordeaux-style blends.

How to read the label

• Argentine Malbec usually says “Malbec” plus a region: “Mendoza” is the broadest; Valle de Uco, Luján de Cuyo, Tupungato, Tunuyán or San Carlos are more specific.
• Cahors names the place, not the grape. It means at least 70% Malbec, possibly with Merlot or Tannat.
• New World Merlot from the US or Chile usually names the grape and a region such as Columbia Valley or Napa Valley.
• Bordeaux names the place. A Saint-Émilion or Pomerol is very likely Merlot-led.

Food pairing: Malbec vs Merlot

Both are food-friendly reds, but they lean in different directions.

Dish	Better choice	Why
Grilled steak, flank or skirt	Malbec	Full body and ripe fruit stand up to char
Burgers with blue cheese	Malbec	Wine Folly’s own suggestion for Malbec
Filet mignon with peppercorn sauce	Merlot (full, warm-climate style)	Wine Folly’s pairing for Napa-style Merlot
Pizza, BBQ chicken, mushroom pasta	Merlot (everyday style)	Wine Folly’s picks for entry-level Merlot
Roast turkey, short rib, ratatouille	Merlot-led Bordeaux	Wine Folly’s picks for Bordeaux blends
Grilled beef with chimichurri	Either	Wine Folly lists it with Merlot-led Bordeaux; in our view a young Malbec works too

Wine Folly suggests Malbec with leaner red meats and blue cheese, including a blue cheese burger. For Merlot, it matches food to style: pizza, BBQ chicken or pasta with mushrooms for easy-drinking bottles; roast turkey, beef short rib or ratatouille for Merlot-led Bordeaux; and rack of lamb, roast veal or filet mignon with peppercorn sauce for full, warm-climate Merlot.

Our pick: Malbec for anything off the grill, and Merlot when the table has chicken, pasta and pizza as well as meat. For more cut-by-cut ideas, see what wine goes with steak.

Price

Wine Folly puts good introductory Argentine Malbec at about $12 to $20, with reserva or single-vineyard bottles at about $20 to $50. We didn’t find a comparable published price guide for Merlot, but it is planted so widely that there is plenty of choice at everyday prices.

We don’t name specific bottles on this page. Every pick on Wine Blue Book needs a published critic score for a named vintage and a US price checked at two or more retailers, as set out in how we rate wine. Under our thresholds, a Malbec or Merlot with 88 or 89 points at $15 or less, or 90 to 92 points at $20 or less, is a Great Value. We’d look at Mendoza for Malbec and at Washington’s Columbia Valley or Chile for Merlot.

How to serve them

Step	Malbec (Wine Folly)	Merlot (Wine Folly)
Temperature	60–68°F (15–20°C)	60–68°F (15–20°C)
Glass	Universal	Oversized
Decanting	About 30 minutes	About 30 minutes
Cellaring	5–10 years	Many 3–7 years; the best 15+ years

Many homes are warmer than 68°F, so we’d give either bottle 15 minutes in the fridge before opening.

Which should you choose?

• Choose Malbec if you like dark fruit, a full body and lower acidity, and you’re cooking steak, burgers or barbecue.
• Choose Merlot if you want a rounder, slightly fresher red with cherry and chocolate that works with a wider range of dishes.

For each grape in full, read our guides to Malbec wine and Merlot wine.

Wine is for adults of legal drinking age (21 in the US). Please drink responsibly.