| Comment on Rick's WineSite Wave File Meritage |
| I was looking at your site and noticed that
your WAV files with the pronunciation of "Meritage" is dead wrong. I wanted
to alert you immediately. - David Schaefer |
Meritage |
| Curiously enough, one of the most frequently
mispronounced wine words is not French but English. But it looks
French, and therein lies the problem. "Meritage," a registered trademark coined as a contest entry in 1988, is intended to rhyme with "Heritage," but that doesn't deter many wine experts from giving it a French twist as "Mehr-uh-TAHJ." True confessions: I have to fight a tendency to do this, myself. Where did the name come from? Back in the 1980s, frustrated by the lack of what lawyers call a "term of art" for wines made from the traditional blends of Bordeaux grapes, a group of American wine producers banded together to come up with a name - and a procedure to control its use. Following a widely publicized contest (with a cellar full of fine California wine as first prize), they selected "Meritage" (based on "merit" and "heritage") and formed a non-profit consortium, The Meritage Society (later renamed Meritage Association) to promote it. The organization took pains to point out that Meritage is not a French word ... and wine enthusiasts immediately started mispronouncing it. U.S. wineries that wish to use the proprietary name "Meritage" must obtain a license from the association (for an annual charge of $1 for every case of Meritage wine they produce), and may use it only on wines that meet specific criteria: • Red Meritage must consist of two or more of the following varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Petit Verdot, St. Macaire, Gros Verdot and Carmenere. No single variety may make up more than 90 percent of the blend. • White Meritage is made from a blend of two or more of the following varieties: Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and Sauvignon Vert. No single variety may make up more than 90 percent of the blend. Although the name and the notion endured some sniping and inevitable parody at the time, the concept stuck, even if the pronunciation didn't. "Meritage" is in wide use today, with well over 100 licensed wineries in 13 U.S. states and Canada; and in the ultimate unintended compliment, there's a growing tendency - particularly on restaurant wine lists - toward its use as a generic term for blended wines. (Just don't let the Society's lawyers catch you doing that.) Although most of us probably think of Meritage wines as red Cabernet and Merlot-based blends, there's plenty of white Meritage around as well. Today's tasting report features one, from Cosentino in Napa. A muscular, oaky white blend, it's a long way from Bordeaux, but it's a big mouthful of white wine if that's your style. David Schaefer |
| David - Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I admit I too am afflicted with the French slant to the word. I'll be mindful of this in the future. Imagine those poor folks living in Des Plaines or Bourbannis, Illinois. Some same potato and some say potato, some say tomato and some say tomato.... |
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