Why Is Pronunciation Such An Issue??

It’s long been stated by Alsatian wine fans that one of the things that holds-back GWT becoming more popular
is the difficulty that consumers have in pronouncing it. I was just reading an article on Loire’s Pinot d’Aunis
and one of its proponents was lamenting the challenge of selling it off her wine list was the difficulty customers
had in pronouncing the variety. Yet not many folks can pronounce Crljenak Kaštelanski and that doesn’t seem to
interfere w/ the sales of Zinfandel in Calif.
So I’m kinda curious why having difficulty pronouncing a grape variety would interfere with its popularity?
Or does it, really? Looking at those Croatian names, with too many consonants & not enough vowels,
doesn’t interfere me from trying those wines. But, then, I’m from Kansas, where folks are pronunciation-challenged anyway.
Tom

Just noticed that I’ve just passed 9000 posts. Anybody can recommend a good
WB 12-step program?? [snort.gif]
Tom

Wish I could help you…

It’s actually Pineau d’Aunis.

I think it’s just another thing on top of the trepidation most non-nerds feel about wine in general. Many people feel intimidated by wine even with grape names they recognize, why add the fear of mispronouncing something on top of all the other psychological baggage ordering wine has for most people? Also Gewurz is held back from being popular because it is disgusting.

That hypothesis doesn’t explain Syrah’s status. Also, “white Zinfandel” is two words, and it does really well with its demographic despite that fact.

Do people have trouble pronouncing Gewurztraminer? I’ve heard it spoken easily in tasting rooms in California. I don’t think that’s the Alsatians’ problem.

I confess, however, that I have no idea how to pronounced “GWT.”

Exactly right. Wine nerds understand that the world is filled with unfamiliar and difficult-to-pronounce producers, regions, crus/vineyards, varietals, etc. Some wine nerds would try to “fake it”, and others would simply ask “How do you pronounce this?”. But many non-nerds feel self-conscious about their lack of wine knowledge. They often wrongly associate wine knowledge with sophistication, education, affluence, social class/status, etc., and believe that if they show any lack of knowledge, it will make them appear to be lacking in these things. They probably assume that people with basic wine knowledge would be able to pronounce these words. It is easier to just order something they can pronounce and avoid sounding unsophisticated and stupid if they try to pronounce a wine incorrectly.

see Blanc, Fume

“jiff,” rhymes with spliff

Yes, many consumers tend to only buy wines whose names they think they can pronounce. It’s definitely a market force.

Yet not many folks can pronounce Crljenak Kaštelanski and that doesn’t seem to interfere w/ the sales of Zinfandel in Calif.

Because one has nothing to do with the other. “Zinfandel” is quite easy to pronounce.

“Blue Franc” is easier to pronounce than “Blaufränkisch” and it’s a literal translation. But because of the general ignorance in the US population, the powers that be allowed Jed Steele to trademark the name. And “Lemberger” sounds like a bad cheese and is unique to Germany, which isn’t the home of the grape that is only grown in Württemberg anyway, while “Blauer Limberger” is beyond reasonable.

Pronunciation is really a problem more in a restaurant than in a retail shop, because there’s so often a whole ego thing played out where most of the table will defer to one or two guys and while those guys may in fact be very ignorant, they don’t want to seem so, and consequently stay within their comfort zones.

And really, English has certain conventions. Words from other languages that don’t follow those conventions are likely to make people uncomfortable. Are there any Americans who aren’t of Polish decent who could pronounce Zbigniew Brzezinski? I went to high school with a guy named Bob Przybylski. Not a single teacher could pronounce it and the worst was our English teacher.

It gets worse when you start using the diacritical marks. Ask a somm in your favorite restaurant to pronounce Hárslevelű. Or even worse, Cserszegi Fűszeres.

I have yet to hear someone pronounce those correctly. If you try to pronounce them as they would be said using the English pronunciation for each letter, you would be wide of the mark. But then again, I frequently hear people say “mehr-laht” and “cabber-net”.

Anyhow, I’m convinced that two reasons for the popularity of Chardonnay are first, that it’s the most beautiful name for any grape, and two, back in the 1970s when women were entering the work force and fern bars were popular, it was a comforting, feminine thing to say.

”Jif”

Edit: Crap. Beaten by Neal.

That’s why god gave us an index finger :wink:

You didn’t even try to spell Gewurztraminer, so gotta forgive people for not knowing how to pronounce it [snort.gif]

Ask Natalia Nikolaevna Zakharenko how it works.

You can color me ignorant.
When I can’t pronounce the names of wines (I’m thinking in particular of German wines here) and don’t know the geography, it is a big stumpling block.
Maybe I need a brain transplant.
Best regards,
Alex R.

Germany gets mentioned a lot with this topic. The funny thing is, German pronunciations are extremely straightforward, far more than French or English. I guess people get intimidated by all of the long words.

As somebody beat me to it, ‘Zinfandel’ is easy to pronounce.

Also, if you find GWT (or Gwt for those who hate internet all cap shouts) hard to pronounce, how do you explain the booming international sales of Grk?

On a previous visit to the Dalmatian coast (nothing to do with the cute vicious dogs), the market would have been inundated with Grk, except that everybody was buying it. This is a joke. The wine is not.

sigh - Commercial post, I sell this wine:
Do you say
‘Peg-OW’
or
‘Peg-O’?
The property has two owners. One says it one way, the other, the other way.

It is clear that at least in the U.S. wines with names that are difficult to pronounce are at a handicap in restaurants.

Does anybody remember when people would snicker at you for having a glass or bottle of Rose at your table?
I still get snickers when served a red at 78 degrees and asking for an ice bucket.

Dan Kravitz

Had a nice Rkatsiteli today