I love red wine and I pretty much stick to red wine where ever I go because I usually have a glass of good red wine with a good meal. Merlot is my favorite and I like Mondovi and Francis Ford Coppola's brand if I am someplace fancy. I also enjoy a glass of Pinot Noir, which is typically sweeter than merlot. The difference is that Merlot is a dark blue covered wine grape variety, that is used in both blending grape and varietal wines.
Merlot is named for the French Blackbird, which is a reference to the color grape and it is a Boudreaux wine. Pinot Noir is made from a red wine grape variety and it is the French words for pine and black, and it is considered a burgundy wine.