Listen & learn how to pronounce Meritage correctly:
Some of the most popular/famous/best Meritage red and white wines include:
Rodney Strong Symmetry Meritage, Alexander Valley, USA
Sterling Vineyards Vintner’s Collection Meritage, Central Coast, USA
Estancia Estates Reserve Meritage, Paso Robles, USA
Trump Winery Meritage, Monticello, USA
Chateau Ste. Michelle Artists Series Meritage – Red Blend, Columbia Valley, USA
Arbor Bench Vineyards Meritage, Dry Creek Valley, USA
Dry Creek Vineyard The Mariner Meritage, Dry Creek Valley, USA
York Creek Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon – Meritage, Spring Mountain District, USA
Lyeth Estate Meritage, Sonoma County, USA
Foley Johnson Meritage, Rutherford, USA
Cosentino Winery The Poet Meritage, Napa Valley, USA
DeLille Cellars Chaleur Estate, Yakima Valley, USA
Robert Mondavi Winery Private Selection Meritage, California, USA
Italics Fourteen Appellations Meritage, Napa Valley, USA
Burrowing Owl Estate Winery Meritage, Okanagan Valley, Canada
Kendall-Jackson Vintner’s Reserve Red Blend, California, USA
Trinitas Cellars Meritage, Napa Valley, USA
Geyser Peak Winery Alexandre Reserve Meritage, Alexander Valley, USA
Le Vigne Nikiara Meritage, Paso Robles, USA
Atalon Pauline’s Cuvee, Napa Valley, USA
St. Francis Anthem Meritage, Sonoma Valley, USA
Dry Creek Vineyard Meritage, Sonoma County, USA
PureCru Wines ‘M. Coz’ Meritage, Napa Valley, USA
King Family Vineyards Meritage, Monticello, USA
Summerhill Pyramid Winery OM Organic Meritage, Okanagan Valley, Canada
Video Content (transcription):
What is up guys? Julien here, the French winemaking guy who makes wine videos here on YouTube, yes wine videos. I’m going to keep this video very short, so here’s the deal. To thank me for not wasting your time I’d be very grateful if you’d watch this video until the end and give it a quick thumb up before you go to support my work of sharing the passion and knowledge of wine too. Anyhow. Let’s get into in.
In short, Meritage is a wine term used to describe Bordeaux-style red and white wines made by members of the Meritage Alliance. The Meritage Association itself says that it’s used to identify handcrafted wines blended from the traditional “noble” Bordeaux varietals.
The word Meritage is the amalgamation of the words “merit” (as in worth) and “heritage”. The word was chosen as the brand name to convey the combined sense of quality and tradition.
So how did this word come about? The Meritage Alliance, which is a non-profit organization, was founded in 1988 with the aim of promoting blended wines of superior quality, mainly from California and Napa valley at the time. That was because many Californian winemakers were frustrated with the varietal wine-labeling requirements in the US which obliges a winery to drop the name of the varietals like Cabernet or Merlot is the wine contains less than 75% of it. So blended wines were considered of lesser quality, while of course the good ones aren’t. Hence the term Meritage to try and identify the good ones. Does that make sense? Let me know in the comments…
So to make a Meritage wine and use the term on your labels, well you have to be a member winery of the Alliance. It’s also suggested that you make less than 25,000 cases of your wine per year, which is 300,000 bottles, which honestly is quite a lot for a high-end wine anyway. So a fairly loose limit there.
Now the grape you can use in the blend though are more restrictive. They are only the traditional grapes from the Bordeaux blend. Namely the 5 red grapes for red wines that are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Carmenère. And the 3 white grapes which are Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon and Muscadelle.
Being an American thing more than anything, the huge majority of Meritage wines are from the US, Napa Valley and Sonoma County of course, but also Paso Robles, the Central Coast, Yakima Valley in Washington state. But you can find Meritage from Texas too, or other countries such as Canada, Argentina, Australia, Israel or even Mexico.
You’ve heard me say Meritage a few times, but if you’re wondering why it’s Meritage and not Meritage, here’s a video you should watch explaining it all.
I’ll leave you to it, and I will see you soon, in the wonderful world of wine. Santé. Cheers!
#JulienWineSchool