Here’s a wine tip to help avoid embarrassment the next time you’re browsing in a wine shop or perusing a restaurant’s wine list.

Say you come across the word “meritage” on the list or label. Resist the urge to Frenchify the pronunciation, and just say meritage, to rhyme with heritage, as in American heritage. It’s American — Californian, to be exact.

California winemakers got together and made it up as a classy-looking word for the labels of their Bordeaux-style blends. Doesn’t mean a lot as quality goes — some are great, some are so-so.

So it’s kind of a pretentious name with an unpretentious pronounciation for an Americanized version of a French wine.

And you can thank Robin Garr, www.wineloverspage.com, for the helpful information.

Herald staff