Meritage is an American wine made by blending the classic grapes of Bordeaux, such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc. It isn’t a grape or a place. It’s a trademarked name that a winery can use only if the blend meets a few rules. And it’s pronounced like “heritage,” not with a French “-ahzh” ending.
That’s the short answer. Here’s what’s behind it, and why it’s worth knowing when you’re reading a wine list.
What does Meritage mean?
The word is a blend itself: merit plus heritage. American winemakers coined it in 1988, through a public naming contest, to solve a labeling problem.
U.S. labeling rules say a wine can carry a grape’s name on the front, like “Cabernet Sauvignon,” only if at least 75% of it comes from that grape. Winemakers making serious Bordeaux-style blends, say 45% Cabernet Sauvignon and 35% Merlot, couldn’t name either grape. Their best wines were stuck with labels like “red table wine.”
So they created a new name, trademarked it, and formed an organization to license it. That group is now called the Meritage Alliance.
What grapes are in a Meritage blend?
A Meritage has to be built from the traditional Bordeaux varieties.
- Red Meritage: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot, plus a few rare historic Bordeaux grapes like Carménère.
- White Meritage: Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon, and Muscadelle.
The blend needs at least two of those grapes, and no single grape can make up more than 90% of it. The winery also has to license the name from the Meritage Alliance. That’s why you’ll see plenty of excellent Bordeaux-style blends that don’t say “Meritage” on the label: the winemaker simply didn’t license it.
How do you pronounce Meritage?
It rhymes with heritage: MAIR-ih-tij. Most people’s first instinct is to give it a fancy French ending (“mer-ih-TAHZH”), but since the name is half “heritage,” it’s pronounced like it. Don’t worry if you’ve been saying it the other way. Plenty of people in the wine business have too.
Is Meritage a red or white wine?
It can be either, though red Meritage is far more common. When someone says “a Meritage” without saying which, they almost always mean a red blend built around Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.
Why blend grapes at all?
Blending isn’t a way to use up leftover fruit. It’s the whole philosophy behind red Bordeaux, and it’s been that way for centuries. Each grape brings something the others don’t:
- Cabernet Sauvignon: structure, firm tannins, and dark fruit. It’s usually the backbone.
- Merlot: a softer, rounder middle with plum and red fruit.
- Cabernet Franc: lift and perfume, often herbal or floral notes.
- Malbec: dark fruit and richness.
- Petit Verdot: deep color and a peppery edge, usually in small amounts.
The winemaker composes with these pieces each vintage, choosing the mix that best shows what that year’s fruit gave them. That’s also why a blend can stay more consistent year to year than a single-grape wine: if one variety has a weak season, the blend can lean on the others.
What does a Meritage taste like?
A red Meritage is usually medium- to full-bodied and dry, with dark fruit like blackberry, black cherry, cassis, and plum. Depending on the blend and the oak, it can carry notes of vanilla, cedar, and spice. It’s typically smoother than a straight Cabernet Sauvignon, because the Merlot softens the edges.
If you want to taste one more closely, try to pick out each grape’s job: firm structure and dark fruit from the Cabernet Sauvignon, a rounder middle from the Merlot, and any floral or herbal lift from the Cabernet Franc. You won’t always isolate every grape, and that’s the point of a well-made blend.
What food goes with Meritage?
Think of the foods you’d pair with Cabernet Sauvignon, with a little more flexibility:
- Grilled steak, burgers, and lamb
- Braised short ribs or pot roast
- Mushroom dishes and hard aged cheeses
The softer edge from the Merlot makes Meritage friendlier with a wider range of dishes than a big, tannic Cabernet.
Meritage in Temecula
Temecula Valley’s warm days and cool, ocean-breeze nights suit the Bordeaux grapes well, which is why Bordeaux-style blends have a strong foothold here. Ours is the Union Meritage: dark berries, plum, and cassis with a touch of vanilla, made to be elegant and approachable.
The short version
Meritage is a licensed name for an American blend of Bordeaux grapes, made from at least two of them with no single grape above 90%. It’s pronounced like “heritage.” When you see it on a label, it tells you the winemaker built the wine as a blend on purpose, in one of winemaking’s oldest traditions. Come taste ours at the tasting room and see what that means in the glass.