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.


 

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