How To Pronounce French, German, and Italian Wine Names
-by Diana Bellucci
Over 15,000 Wine Names - Five Languages - Easy Pinot Grigio Wine Pronunciation Book
Winner! Best Wine Education Book in English - Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2003
...as seen in Wine Specator Online! Order Your Copy Here
The other night I saw a commercial by a BIG NAME American winery for the varietal Pinot Grigio...Well, I had to snicker, not because they paid HUGE sums of money to run a full 30 second television advertisement...but because they mispronounced the wine! This is not uncommon...In fact I used to mispronounce the wine too, but my most excellent Italian teacher brought clarity to the pronunciation of pinot grigio wine. She said quite firmly, (using my best Italian accent here)..."ahno ahno ahnoah...youah seeah the word 'Pinot' isah Frenchah, but the word 'Grigio' is Italiano. So you must useah bothah when pronouncing thisah wineah."
... I was enlightened! You see, ...
"You see, the word 'pinot' originates from the French language, but 'grigio' comes from the Italian language. Hense, the mispronunciation is often with the word grigio because the English speakers seem to want to pronounce it in a French way when we shouldn't. The mispronunciation is often "gree-zhee-o." In fact, there are only two syllables in grigio, not three. Also, the second g is not said as softly as the French zh sound. It should be more like the English j, as in the names John or Jennifer. We also use (Quietics)™ to twill the r, as explained above, so we're able to get closer to the correct pronunciation.
Therefore, in the example below, we pronounce "pinot" in French and "grigio" as it's supposed to be pronounced, in Italian."...
..Please refer to the book for the correct pronunciation of Pinot Grigio. I think the confusion might also come from the term Pinot Gris. "Gris" being a French term may have us thinking French with the pronunciation...
