Saturday, July 27, 2013

What Does “Meritage” Mean on a Wine Label?

by Kirsten Fox

You see them popping up a lot now… “White Meritage”, “Red Meritage”. You’ve never heard of it before. So, just what does Meritage mean? Meritage is a proprietary name for New World wines made of blends of Bordeaux-designated grapes.

We found a great write up from the Meritage Alliance, which is the association that was formed to take care of this new name, titled “What is Meritage?” “Meritage wines are provocative red or white wines crafted solely from specific “noble” Bordeaux grape varieties and are considered to be the very best wines of the vintage.” They go on to say, “Meritage wines are growing in popularity and are currently the second fastest growing wine category in the industry.

They are highly regarded for their aging potential, yet are completely approachable in their youth.” Next time you’re eyeing a wine label, see if you notice this term! By the way, the name came from a blend of the words “merit” and “heritage”, hence you could say, “Meritage rhymes with heritage.”  It does not rhyme with “garage” no matter how many times you hear it that way.




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