Moderators: Jenise, Robin Garr, David M. Bueker
Craig Pinhey
Wine geek
89
Fri Feb 15, 2008 4:19 pm
Rothesay, New Brunswick, Canada
Jenise
FLDG Dishwasher
42659
Tue Mar 21, 2006 2:45 pm
The Pacific Northest Westest
The concept has survived, and many wineries do register to use the name; but many more decline to participate, sticking with "Red Table Wine" or even "claret" or simply proprietary names.
Hoke
Achieving Wine Immortality
11420
Sat Apr 15, 2006 1:07 am
Portland, OR
It's been my observation that there are levels of quality implied by the choice of name. 'Meritage' is used to imply prestige and is often a winery's best offering. Many wineries, as you note, eschew it in favor of a proprietary name, and some wineries use nothing but their own name when that blend is all they make and prestiguous in its own right (like Opus One, Dominus).
Jeff_Dudley wrote:Robin,
Can you tell us a little more about the casual wine shop tasting event for this winning entry ? Was it a $20 and under grouping ? Was it placed in an easy-to-dominate field ?
I'm automatically set to ignore anything dubbed winner of a wine shop "consumer taste-off" anymore. I see nearly an unbroken pattern of easy drinking gluggers perform well in aggregated group tastings, at the expense of perhaps more interesting, more distinctive and more variably-scored wines.
I do value your thoughful review on its own merit, and value it more highly as well.
Craig Pinhey wrote:PS That's the first I've heard of Meritage being pronounced that way. I've never heard that story. Cool. I always use the French pronunciation, as that is what I've heard most often in my job. Must be because I'm in Canada, eh?
Craig Pinhey
Wine geek
89
Fri Feb 15, 2008 4:19 pm
Rothesay, New Brunswick, Canada
Robin Garr wrote:Craig Pinhey wrote:PS That's the first I've heard of Meritage being pronounced that way. I've never heard that story. Cool. I always use the French pronunciation, as that is what I've heard most often in my job. Must be because I'm in Canada, eh?
Can't say, Craig. Most wine geeks of my acquaintance are well aware of the correct pronunciation, simply because the whole point behind the competition was to come up with an "American" word, and as I recall, the rules of the contest specifically ruled out the use of foreign words including French. Of course, "Meritage" turned out to be a bad idea for the obvious reason, but yes, I'd be surprised to hear a M.S. (for example) being unaware of the way to pronounce it.
Jenise
FLDG Dishwasher
42659
Tue Mar 21, 2006 2:45 pm
The Pacific Northest Westest
Hoke wrote:It's been my observation that there are levels of quality implied by the choice of name. 'Meritage' is used to imply prestige and is often a winery's best offering. Many wineries, as you note, eschew it in favor of a proprietary name, and some wineries use nothing but their own name when that blend is all they make and prestiguous in its own right (like Opus One, Dominus).
Jenise, that was a stipulation of the original Meritage Society rules, that the wine was expected to be a premium/premiere bottling from the winery.
Meritage never quite got established the way the Society intended it to, I think. And it's slipping further out of the immediate public consciousness, in part for reasons you described in your post.
Howie Hart
The Hart of Buffalo
6389
Thu Mar 23, 2006 4:13 pm
Niagara Falls, NY
From: http://www.meritagewine.org/.In 1988, a group of American vintners formed The Meritage Association to identify hand-crafted wines blended from the traditional "noble" Bordeaux varietals including: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec or Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, and Sauvignon Vert. "Meritage," pronounced like "heritage," was selected from more than 6,000 entries in an international contest to name the new wine category. Meritage is an invented word that combines "merit" and "heritage" — reflecting the spirit of members of The Meritage Association.
Craig Pinhey
Wine geek
89
Fri Feb 15, 2008 4:19 pm
Rothesay, New Brunswick, Canada
Howie Hart wrote:Regarding pronunciation and origin:From: http://www.meritagewine.org/.In 1988, a group of American vintners formed The Meritage Association to identify hand-crafted wines blended from the traditional "noble" Bordeaux varietals including: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec or Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, and Sauvignon Vert. "Meritage," pronounced like "heritage," was selected from more than 6,000 entries in an international contest to name the new wine category. Meritage is an invented word that combines "merit" and "heritage" — reflecting the spirit of members of The Meritage Association.
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