A few years ago my friend Andy corrected me when I said Meritage the “French way" (sounding like mirage), but off course there is no such word in French.  The term was created by a group of Napa wine maker in the late 80's to describe a California Bordeaux blend. It was formed by joining the words Merit and heritage and is pronounced like Heritage not like Mirage.

Meritage [mer-i-tij].