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No-Fuss Guide · No. 20

Malbec, Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon: the difference between the three

All three are French and from the same family: Merlot is Malbec's half-sister through its mother, and Cabernet Sauvignon's through its father, Cabernet Franc. In the glass, the simplest yardstick is tannin: Cabernet Sauvignon is the one that grips your mouth the most; Merlot and Malbec are softer, Malbec with more color and dark fruit.

The family, by DNA

Cabernet Sauvignon was born from a natural cross of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc, probably between neighboring vineyards; by the 17th century it was already growing in Bordeaux. The discovery was made by Carole Meredith and John Bowers, of the University of California, Davis, in 1997, by comparing the DNA of 51 grapes. Merlot's mother only turned up in 2009: a forgotten grape, found in Brittany and the Charentes and named Magdeleine Noire des Charentes; the father is that same Cabernet Franc. Malbec (which in France is also called Côt) is the daughter of the same Magdeleine Noire and Prunelard. Merlot is the link between the three: Cabernet Sauvignon's half-sister through the father (Cabernet Franc) and Malbec's through the mother (Magdeleine Noire). Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon have no parent in common.

Cabernet Sauvignon: the one that grips

• Where it comes from: Bordeaux. It's the most planted wine grape in the world (341,000 hectares in 2015, according to the OIV) and the most planted in Chile.
• On the vine: small berries and thick skin, ripens late.
• In the glass: deep color, firm tannin and high acidity. Ripe, blackcurrant and cedar; picked early, green bell pepper (that's the pyrazine). It can take years in the bottle.
• Personality: it usually goes into blends precisely because it's tannic and not very “round”.

Merlot: the soft one

• Where it comes from: Bordeaux, where there's more Merlot planted than Cabernet. It's the most planted grape in France (112,000 hectares in 2015) and dominates the Right Bank, of Pomerol and Saint-Émilion.
• On the vine: thinner skin than Cabernet's; ripens earlier and more easily.
• In the glass: soft tannin and a smooth texture; plum, blackberry and, when ripe, chocolate. Easy to drink.
• Personality: in the Bordeaux blend, Cabernet brings the tannin, the acidity and the aroma; Merlot, the body and the alcohol.

Malbec: the dark one

• Where it comes from: Southwest France, the old province of Quercy, whose capital is Cahors: there it makes the dark red of the Cahors AOC. But it was in Argentina that it became a star: it's the country's most planted grape, with 47,000 hectares in 2024, almost a quarter of the vineyards, 85% of them in Mendoza.
• On the vine: thick skin packed with pigment: the wine comes out purple, almost opaque.
• In the glass: plum, blackberry, black cherry and, in high-altitude ones, violet. Rounder tannin than Cabernet's. The acidity changes with the place: the Argentine institute talks about “gran acidez”; Wine Folly, about medium-low acidity.
• A date: April 17 is World Malbec Day. It recalls April 17, 1853, when French agronomist Michel Aimé Pouget took to the Mendoza Legislature the bill for the school that brought the grape there.

So which one?

A suggestion, never a rule. Want a soft red that works even without food? Start with Merlot. Grilled meat on the way? Cabernet Sauvignon or Malbec, which have tannin for the fat (the why is in the wine for churrasco guide). Like fruit and color? Malbec. And the best way to learn is to taste all three side by side: Compare puts the wine pages next to each other.

The page for each one, with the house wines by price range: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Malbec.