10 alcohol names you've probably been mispronouncing

31 December 2019 - 00:00 By Sanet Oberholzer
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In order to be called champagne, a bubbly must be produced in the Champagne region of France.
In order to be called champagne, a bubbly must be produced in the Champagne region of France.
Image: 123RF/Leonard Zhukovsky

Have you been wanting to try Japanese rice wine, but avoided ordering it because you don't know how to pronounce “sake”? Perhaps you've been put off trying posh champagne because those French names on the bottles are real tongue twisters. You're not the only one.

With the party season in full swing, bottles of bubbly being popped and cocktails with exotic ingredients being a summer staple, now's the perfect time to learn the right way to say alcohol names that are commonly mispronounced. 

CHAMPAGNES

MOËT ET CHANDON

The wrong way: Moh-way et Chan-don

The right way: Mo-wett et Shan-dawn (wett pronounced as the opposite to dry)

VEUVE CLICQUOT

The wrong way: Verve Click-cot

The right way: Verve Klee-koh (verve rhymes with nerve)

PERRIER-JOUËT

The wrong way: Per-i-er Joue (with a silent t)

The right way: Per-i-er Jou-et (with the t)

SPIRITS AND LIQUEURS

CACHAÇA

The wrong way: Kah-cha-kah

The right way: Kah-shah-sah

CURAÇAO

The wrong way: Kur-a-cow

The right way: Kyoor-uh-sow (with an ou sound, as in ouch)

COINTREAU

The wrong way: Coin-trio

The right way: Kwan-troh

BEERS AND WINE

STELLA ARTOIS

The wrong way: Stel-lah Ar-twas (with the s)

The right way: Stel-lah Ar-twa (with a silent s)

CHIANTI 

The wrong way: Chi-ahn-ti

The right way: Key-ahn-ti

PINOT GRIGIO

The wrong way: Pee-noh Gri-gio

The right way: Pee-noh Gree-joe

SAKE

The wrong way: Sah-kee

The right way: Sah-kay


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