Grape Gossip - How to Speak the Language of Wine

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Have you ever had that 'Wine Fear' moment when you want to order a wine, but are too scared to attempt the pronunciation (especially when the name looks like this label!
Believe me, it's an incredibly common syndrome (even I get it occasionally), and we're here to help.

I'm not going to teach you how to speak perfect French (or German, or Italian), but with the pointers below, you can be confident of ordering almost any wine in a restaurant, or a wine shop.

I've been instinctive here rather than phonetic (mainly because I don't get the phonetic alphabet) and where I think something isn't clear from basic letter sounds, I'll try to explain.

Let's start off with a little pet hate of mine. Riesling. Pronounced Ree-sling. NOT Rye-sling. Got it? Good. Now here are a few more:

Grapes

Albarino: Al -bahr-ee-n'yo
Aglianico - Agg - lee-ann-ick -o
Cabernet Sauvignon: Cab-er-ney Sew-vin'yon
Cabernet Franc: Cab-er-ney Frahn
Carignan: Cah - reen - jan (soft j)
Chardonnay: Shar - donn - eh.
Chenin Blanc: She - nann Blonk
Cinsault: San-so
Furmint: Foor-mint
Gamay: Gamm-eh
Garnacha: Gahr-nah-cha
Gewurztraminer: (now here's a scary word!) Ge-vertz-trah-mee-ner
Grenache: Greh - nash
Gruner Veltliner: Grew- ner Felt-leen - er
Malbec: Mahl-beck
Malvasia: Mahl-va-see-ah
Marsanne: Mahr-sanne
Merlot: Mare-low
Mourvedre: Moor-vedd-'rr (a bit tricky this, just think French and don't pronounce the second 'e'
Muscadet: Muss-ka-day
Muscat: Muss-kat
Nebbiolo: Neb-ee-oh-low
Petit Verdot: Peh-tee Ver-doh
Petite Syrah: Peh-teet See-rah
Pinot Blanc: Pee-noh Blonk
Pinot Grigio: Pee-noh Gree-joe
Pinot Gris: Pee-noh Gree
Pinot Meunier: Pee-noh Myrh-n'yay
Pinot Noir: Pee-noh Nw-arh
Pinotage: Pee-noh-tahj (soft J)
Riesling: Ree-sling
Roussanne: Roo-sann
Sangiovese: San-joe-vey-szee
Sauvignon Blanc: Sew-vin'yon Blonk
Semillon: Semm - ee-yon
Shiraz Shih-razz
Syrah: See-rah
Tempranillo: Tem-pra'-neel-yo
Tocai Friulano: Tok-eye Free-you-lahn-oh
Torrontes: Tohr-on-tesz
Trebbiano: trebb-ee-ah-noh
Verdicchio: Ver-deek-'yo
Viognier: Vee-ohn-yay (NB, the 'G' is silent)
Zinfandel: Zinn-fan-dell

Wine Regions
Alsace: Al-szass
Alto Adige: Al-toe Add-ee-jay
Bandol: Band-oll
Barbaresco: Bar-bar-ess-ko
Barolo: Bah-roe-low
Beaujolais: Bow-joh-lay (soft 'j')
Beaune: Bone
Bordeaux: Bore-doh
Borgogne: Bore-gon-yeh
Brunello di Montalcino: Brew-nell-oh dee Mont-al-chee-noh
Cahore: Cah-ore
Cava: Cah-ba
Chablis: Shab-lee
Champagne: Sham-payn
Chateauneuf du Pape: Shat-oh-nerf doo pahpp
Chianti: Kee-an-tee
Cornas: Core-nahs
Cote Rotie: Coat Row-tee
Coteaux de Languedoc: Coa-toe deh Long-eh-dock
Cotes du Rhone: Coat doo rone
Cotes du Ventoux: Coat doo von-too
Graves: Grahv
Haut Medoc: Oh May-dock
Hermitage: Er-mih-tarje (soft 'j' again)
Jurancon: Zhoor-ann-ss-on
Languedoc: Long-eh-dock
Loire: Lwahr
Macon: Mack-on
Madeira: Mad-eer-ah
Madiran: Mad-eer-ahn
Margaux: Mahr-go
Medoc: May-dock
Minervois: Min-her-vwah
Mosel: Mow-zel
Orvieto: Orr-vee-eht-oh
Pauillac: Pow-yak
Penedes Pey-nay-dehs
Piemonte: Pee-eh-mon-tay (Piedmont = Pee-eh-mont)
Pomerol: Pohm-her-ohl
Pouillly Fuisse: Poo-ee Fwee-say (NB silent 'L')
Pouilly Fume: Poo-ee Foo-may
Priorato: Pree-or-ahh-toe
Provence: Proh-vahns
Rheingau: Rine-gow
Rhone: Rone
Ribera del Duero: Rib-her-a dell Dwair-oh
Rioja: Ree-ohh-hah
Saint Chinian: Sahn Shin-ee-ann
Saint Emillion: Sahn Ehm-il-yon
Saint Estephe: Sahn Ess-tehf
Sauternes: Sow-tern
Tokaji: Toh-kay
Trentino-Alto-Adige: Trehn-tee-noh Al-toe Add-ee-jay
Tuscany: Tuss-can-ee
Valpolicella: Vall-poll-ee-chell-ah
Vino Verdhe: Vin-yoh Vehr-day
Vino Nobile di Montepulciano: Vee-noh Noh-bee-lay dee Mohn-tay-pull-chee-ah-noh
Vouvray: Voo-vray

A few more wine words you might need

Auslese: Ows-lay-zhe
Beerenauslese: Beer-ehn-ows-lay-zhe
Botrytis: Bow-try-tis
Brut: Brute
Clos: Clow
Cru Classe : Crew clahs-ay
Crianza: Cree-ann-tha
Cuvee: Coo-vay
Fino: Fee-noh
Frizzante: Fri-zant-ay
Kabinett: Cab-inn-ehtt
Malolactic: Mahl-oh-lack-tick
Manzanilla: Man-thah-niy-ya
Oloroso: Ohl-or-oe-soe
Petillant: Peht-ee-yahnt
Phylloxera: Fill-ox-e-rah
Riserva Rih-zehr-vah
Ripasso Rih-pass-oh
Spumante: Spoo-mahn-tay
Spatlese: Spay-t-lay-seh
Terroir: Tehr-wahr

And finally, to put you out of your misery, the wine label at the top is pronounced: Chow-mein ett Chan-ith

Have I missed something. Just let me know at sales@reservewines.co.uk. Don't worry, I won't be surprised.