Editing Merlot (section)

=== Parentage and relationship to other grapes ===
[[File:Cabernet Franc.JPG|right|thumb|Cabernet Franc, one of the parent varieties of Merlot.]]
In the late 1990s, researchers at the [[University of California, Davis]], showed that Merlot is an offspring of [[Cabernet Franc]] and is a half-sibling of [[Carménère]], [[Malbec]], and Cabernet Sauvignon.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Parentage of Merlot and related winegrape cultivars of southwestern France: discovery of the missing link|author1=J-M. Boursiquot|author2=T. Lacombe|author3=V. Laucou|author4=S. Julliard|author5=F-X. Perrin|author6=N. Lanier|author7=D. Legrand|author8=C. Meredith|author9=P. This|journal=Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research|volume=15|issue=2|pages=144–155|year=2009|doi=10.1111/j.1755-0238.2008.00041.x|doi-access=free}}</ref> The identity of the second parent of Merlot wouldn't be discovered till the late 2000s when an obscure and unnamed variety, first sampled in 1996 from vines growing in an abandoned vineyard in [[Saint-Suliac]] in [[Brittany]], was shown by DNA analysis to be the mother of Merlot.<ref name="Wine Grapes"/>

This grape, later discovered in front of houses as a decorative vine in the villages of [[Figers]], [[Mainxe]], [[Saint-Savinien]], and [[Tanzac]] in the [[Poitou-Charentes]], was colloquially known as ''Madeleina'' or ''Raisin de La Madeleine'' due to its propensity to be fully ripe and ready for [[harvest (wine)|harvest]] around the July 22nd [[feast day]] of [[Mary Magdalene]]. As the connection to Merlot became known, the grape was formally registered under the name [[Magdeleine Noire des Charentes]]. Through its relationship with Magdeleine Noire des Charentes, Merlot is related to the [[Southwest France wine]] grape [[Abouriou]], though the exact nature of that relationship (with Abouriou potentially being either a parent of Magdeleine Noire or an offspring) is not yet known.<ref name="Wine Grapes"/>

[[Grape breeder]]s have used Merlot [[crossed (wine)|crossed]] with other grapes to create several new varieties including [[Carmine (grape)|Carmine]] (an [[Olmo grape]] made by crossing a [[Carignan]] x Cabernet Sauvignon cross with Merlot), [[Ederena]] (with Abouriou), [[Evmolpia]] (with [[Mavrud]]), [[Fertilia (grape)|Fertilia]] (with [[Raboso Veronese]]), [[Mamaia (grape)|Mamaia]] (a [[Romanian wine]] grape made by crossing a [[Muscat Ottonel]] x [[Babeasca negra]] cross with Merlot), [[Nigra (grape)|Nigra]] (with [[Barbera]]), [[Prodest]] (with Barbera), and [[Rebo (grape)|Rebo]] (with [[Teroldego]]).<ref name="Wine Grapes"/>

Over the years, Merlot has spawned a [[color mutation]] that is used commercially, a pink-skinned variety known as ''Merlot gris''. However, unlike the relationship between [[Grenache noir]] and [[Grenache blanc]] or [[Pinot noir]] and [[Pinot blanc]], the variety known as [[Merlot blanc]] is not a color mutation but rather an offspring variety of Merlot crossing with [[Folle blanche]].<ref name="Wine Grapes"/>