How Do You Say That Again?
Talking to my friend, the sommelier, we lamented how we couldn’t sit down for a bottle or two of wine, what with over half the country between us. We also talked about my blog, surprise. (It’s like my baby. Some people show pictures of their kids, I tell people about Wine Outlook.) In the process, she gave me an idea for a post.
Pronunciation. When it comes to the intimidation factor in wine, that plays a large role. For her and me anyway: she studied the Classics, and I took Spanish ages ago, but with the French influence fairly prominent…. I attempted to learn some basics via cd on my trip out to CA, which didn’t work so much.
Neither of us grew up around wine. We’re both relatively self-taught. To make matters worse, I tend to mix pronunciations up in my head (thanks, Mom and Nana). For instance, the one girl I knew who went by Mee-gan, had me second-guessing every time I called someone Meh-gan. Same with Ahn-drea and An-drea. So when I first started reading about Oregon wines, I thought it was Will-a-MET. Luckily, there’s the saying, “It’s Will-am-mit, dammit.” (But sometimes I still have to say that in my head to make sure I’ve got it right).
It’s hard enough choosing a bottle for a group of expectant friends, but to throw foreign languages and crazy wine names into the mix….Well, I can’t really blame a person for ordering what they know.
Help. Some of my wine books have pronunciation keys, but most are pretty limited. Does anyone have a suggestion for a more comprehensive guide? It could be online, in print, homemade flash cards…
wine names, pronunciation guide, avoiding embarrassment
…..Farley Walker
January 27th, 2007 at 10:07 am
Ah, but there could be strategy and subterfuge involved in saying it wrong! Sometimes we savvy wine-geeks mis-pronounce names on purpose, just to test the tasting room staff! For example, if you make a verbal faux-pas, it tests the person pouring for you at that posh winery. Watch what they do. Do they: A) Roll their eyes and sigh heavily? B) Get huffy and correct you immediately? C) Say the correct word casually in a sentence, so you get the hint? D) Do nothing because they are totally embarrassed? The way the tasting room staff treats their “less knowledgable” customers says a lot about the winery itself. In Carmel Valley, there is a certain winery named after a famous maker of neckties. I love to test the wine pourers there–assuming that I can even get their attention–by saying, “I’m a college student, and I took a wine class recently at school. I would like to try your:”
1. Penut Noy-er
2. Shure-ass
3. Zin-fandle
4. Guh-burp-strummer
5. Cabur-net Soh-Vig-Non
6. Mare-Lot
7. Vee-og-nur
Oh the excitement! It is so much fun watching their reaction. Just try it, and when you do, try to sound convincing. A good pourer will try to educate people who are new to wine. After all, the biggest idiots are frequently the best customers! (grin) I’ve worked in retail. I know these things.
January 27th, 2007 at 10:16 am
i know what you mean farley… i still catch myself saying mourvedre very silently so that people can’t really hear me say it, though i have gotten up the courage now to say viognier… after i read your post i thought i remembered a website that had a pronunciation key for the grape varietals but i can’t seem to find it… i did find this interesting wine pronunciation guide online that actually says the name for you, but all the names are just of famous bordeaux properties: http://www.bbr.com/US/wine-knowledge/pronunciation.lml?ID=null
and on the topic of pronunciation, once and for all how do you pronounce riedel? is it ree-dahl or is it ri-DEL? i don’t speak german and it seems everyone has their own way of saying it…
January 27th, 2007 at 10:47 am
I worked for Sur Le Table. Haha, we had a lot of fun telling people how to pronounce the name of our store! By the way, it’s not ‘Surly-Table.’ The store people say, “Sur Luh Tob.” However, when French tourists come into the store, they say ‘table’ the correct way: ‘Tob-luh.’
Oh, anyway, we sold Riedel, and at the store, we pronounced it: “Rih-dell.” Please don’t say ‘ree-dahl’ we find it painful.
BTW, in German, you pronounce the second vowel, when two are together. For example, Bier is “bee-ah”. Wein is “vine”. The second vowel is pronounced hard, like a hard e in Beer, or a hard i in Wine.
Another example is the word for ‘white’. Weiss. In German, it is “vice.” The i gets preferential treatment.
So, Riedel is technically “Ree-dell”. If you are German, you’d probably say “Reedle”. If you are an american, you can get away with saying, “Reh-dell.”
Definitely, do not pronounce the ‘i’ hard. Saying ‘Rye-Doll’ is right out.
Haben Sie eine gute Wochende!
January 27th, 2007 at 1:23 pm
hey snarls,
just a day after we talked about this subject, i picked up The New Wine Lover’s Companion at Lemuria. It’s nice and small, plus it includes pronuncians for almost every entry…..
Here’s the link:
http://www.amazon.com/New-Wine-Lovers-Companion/dp/0764120034/sr=8-1/qid=1169932626/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/105-0585203-3674855?ie=UTF8&s=books
kb
January 27th, 2007 at 1:25 pm
PRONUNCIATION!
leave it up to me to misspell a word on my first comment!
January 28th, 2007 at 12:03 am
Doug, you don’t even need me.
Ahren, thanks for the quick lesson.
Kelly, thanks for the book tip and I’m just glad you commented finally after your several guest spots.
February 2nd, 2007 at 9:56 pm
REE-dle, rhymes with Tweedle or needle. I promise. The em-FAA-sis is on the first sil-AA-bul.
Viognier is a cheer: “vee on YAY!” A helpful TR person taught me that years ago and I have passed it along ever since.
And what fun it is to pour Tempranillo. I think all the Ls throw people because they rearrange them throughout the name and even add a few more: Templarnillell. Say “Temp Ra NEE Oh” which rhymes with Neat-O. Sorta.