Bread & Butter Merlot

The name Bread & Butter does not reveal the grape inside, where the wine is from, or what it costs, and of those three the cost is the simplest to settle: this sits among the lowest-priced reds we track. The grape is Merlot. Regional guides describe Merlot as a red that ripens earlier than Cabernet Sauvignon and tends to come out rounder and softer, with plum and other dark fruit and gentler tannin than Cabernet in many wines. Bread & Butter Wines gives its home as a tasting room at 3105 Silverado Trail in Napa, California.

We do not have a shopper rating for this bottle. On price, in our September 2026 checks it ranged from $10.99 to $20.99, depending on where it was stocked.

Bread & Butter's page for the 2022 California Merlot lists 13.5 percent alcohol and describes the wine, in its own words, as rich plum, dark cherry and sweet baking spice, finishing with chocolate and sweet vanilla notes; the producer calls the style 'rich, soft and decadent' and easy drinking, though it does not publish oak or other winemaking detail for this bottling. Winemaker Linda Trotta, credited on the brand's site as an award-winning veteran with more than 30 years of experience across four continents, including a UC Davis winemaking education, oversees the Everyday Wines collection this Merlot belongs to.

Our call: this suits a shopper price-shopping a soft, fruit-forward Merlot, since it sits among the lowest-priced reds we track and the producer names a credentialed winemaker and a plain, specific tasting profile. Pass if a shopper rating is what you lean on before buying: none has reached our record for this bottle yet.

The Grocery Store Wine Desk · written Sep 16, 2026 from our research file for this wine. Numbers reflect our latest checks.