St.-Emilion can be sturdier, and many of its wines contain some Cabernet Sauvignon for backbone. Wine Suggestions Northeast Italy produces scads of Merlot, most of it light, fruity and simple. Elsewhere in Italy, some Tuscan Merlots are fashioned after the Bordeaux models. In the United States, California and Washington can both produce outstanding Merlots that are, if anything, weightier and richer than the typical Merlot-based Bordeaux. Closest in style to the French prototypes are the few Merlots grown on New York's Long Island, which are rarely available outside their immediate area.
Chilean producers can also get close to the French style.
Those Merlots that do offer rich layers of flavor and smooth texture can indeed contribute good things to a fine meal. Older Merlots like red meats with subtler flavors, perhaps herbal or concentrated meaty flavors from braising. Wine Spectator menus with Merlot have generally included these kinds of foods and flavors. For example, Chateau Ste. Michelle Merlot Columbia Valley Indian Wells Vineyard 1991, a satiny young Washington wine, recently paired up superbly with Chinese roast pork and papaya-orange salad.