Which Grapes to Eat and Drink? Bottle and menu names listed alphabetically

 

A-Z of of Names of Grapes To Eat and Drink

Here's a handy alphabetical checklist of wine grapes and their meanings. 

Auxerrois - from Alsace (the old name for Alsace)

Champagne - from the Champagne region of France, north, river Loire region, near Paris

Colombard - white from colombe, French for dove (white birds)

Fer - French for wild (grape) like feral

Glera - the new name for Prosecco grapes to distinguish them from the style of wine more widespread

Madeira - strong alcohol, Portuguese island in the Atlantic, whose wine was transformed in long hot journeys stored for ages by ship in the olden days, storage conditions to enhance flavour and other qualities, now imitated on the island without the sea journey

Mavro - Greek for black (name used in Cyprus)

Merlot - from French for blackbird. Grapes used in France for wine and eating

Monastrell - Spanish wine which came from the monastery (Latin monasteriu for monastery)

Mourvèdre - French from the Latin monasteriu meaning monastery

Muscat - musky smelling, sweet, often a dessert wine on the menu 

Nero - Latin for black

Nero d'Avola from Sicily - black Grape, from the Italian island

Pinot is a family of grapes. Confusingly, some people refer to Pinot Noir, the black pinot simply as Pinot. The white is called Pinot blanc. In French the adjective comes after the noun, as in moulin rouge, meaning red windmill. 




Pinot Gris wine bottle label. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Pinot Gris literally in French gris is grey, is actually a white wine grape.


 

Pinot Grigio In Italy pinot gris it is called, Pinot grigio, grigio being Italian for grey. Wikipedia helpfully gives you the pronunciation in both US and UK accents. (US: /ˈpiːnoʊ ˈɡriːdʒioʊ, -dʒoʊ/, UK: /ˈɡrɪdʒioʊ/) .  Grauburgunder is German for Burgundian grey.

Prosecco - a town in Italy, in the north, now the style of wine which originated there but comes from other places too

Sagrantino - sacred wine

Sangiovese - Jupiter's blood

Shiraz - Australian name for the Syrah grape

Tempranillo - early ripening (think of time and temps fugit meaning time flies, early grape saves time)

Trebbiano - from Italian villages of similar names or the river

Vin Santo - wine of saints


See my blog post on grape names in travel with Angela Lansbury

Useful Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinot_gris

Please share links to your favourite posts.


 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Italian novelties. Wines, food and festivals - including a white chocolate Xmas tree

Image
New wines and food from Italy  . Opportunity for distributors in the UK. Restaurants and hotels. Find something unique which nobody yet has to offer the customer. My favourite item was a green xmas tree from a cones of  white chocolate with a green pistacchio flavour coating.  Unfotunately I was not able to take a photo. But here's one I found on the web. White chocolate covered with pistacchios. From Turin which has been a centre of chocolate making for centuries. This is not available now, in May, but something to look out for at Christmas time. But it's good to plan buying or stocking a shop or restaurant. The big supermarkets order specialities up to a year ahead. I saw a giant solid wheel of yellow cheese, with the centre carved out into small chunks by keen eaters. Great eye-catching idea for serving at a party, a wedding or on a restaurant trolley. Items I saw included giant green olives. Bottles of yellow or white, viscous olive oil. Favourite Food From Italy chocolates
Read more

Wine and dine in Wales on Welsh Honey, Whisky and Chocolate

Image
 Wales has wonderful food, the familiar Welsh lamb from the green valleys, watered by the Westerlies, the winds coming in from the sea. I used to drive every year from London to Wales along the M4 which took about four and a half hours.  I have also been on the train from Paddington station many times. It is exciting to get on a train and see the signs in English and Welsh (which I have been learning on Duolingo). On the way home I buy Welsh cakes on the train. They look like squashed scones. If only I could keep them until I get home and heat them up. Swansea Seaweed But Wales also offers the unusual, seaweed from Swansea, which as the city's name suggests, is on the coast.  Welsh Wine and Alcohol Dylan Thomas was well known for enjoying a drink or two or more at Welsh pubs (short for public houses). You can buy a mug for your tea, bearing his picture. Wales has a magnificent building named in his honour and an annual festival. Driving Drive to Wales from London along the M4, pass
Read more

Wine Labels Words Translated from French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese

Image
  Wine labels tell you about the style of wine, its colour, white, black, red, pink, orange. Sometimes the grape, the proportion of grapes in a blend, the flavour (such as a fruit or nut). The country, or specified place of origin, the district, or the vineyard. In some countries the division is within the owner's land, the owner, the maker, or co-operative, the importer.  You learn whether it is dry or sweet, the sugar content. You may also learn whether it is vegan (without using egg white to clarify or cling to impurities such as the sediment of bits of wine skin or stalk or debris), Kosher may be mentioned, or kosher for Passover (around Easter time in the Jewish religion). Alsace - region of North Eastern France, at one time German, so a mixture of French and German names and words on bottles botas - cases in Spanish clos was originally a walled vineyard, closed, and enclosure, but the walls have often disappeared and the name is not regulated so anybody can call their patch o
Read more