HOW TO PRONOUNCE
French is behind more intimidating wine labels than any other language — and most of the fear comes from letters you don't say. Final consonants usually go silent, the -er and -ier endings soften to “-ay”, and the vowels carry the word.
THE ONE RULE
Drop most final consonants and let the vowels lead — “Grand Cru” is “grahn CROO”, not “grand kroo”.
23 French words · 10 grapes · 7 regions · 6 styles & terms
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The French words that trip people up most
The stressed syllable is in CAPITALS. Tap any word for a syllable-by-syllable breakdown.
The grape names that trip people up at the wine list.
Where the wine is from — the places on the label.
Sparkling styles and the cellar vocabulary you'll hear.
Each entry shows a plain-English respelling with the emphasised syllable in CAPITALS — no phonetic alphabet to decode. These are the widely-taught pronunciations an English speaker will be understood using; native French, Italian, German, Spanish, and Portuguese pronunciations vary, and stress is approximate. When in doubt, lean on the emphasised syllable and you'll be close. Last reviewed 2026-09-02.
Pronounce another language
The full pronunciation guideDrop most final consonants and let the vowels lead — “Grand Cru” is “grahn CROO”, not “grand kroo”. This guide covers 23 French grape, region, and cellar words, each with a plain-English respelling and the stressed syllable in CAPITALS.
Beaujolais, Carménère, Mourvèdre, Pouilly-Fuissé, Sommelier, Terroir and Viognier trip people up most. Beaujolais, for example, is said "boh-zhoh-LAY", with the emphasis on "LAY" — the spelling doesn't map onto the French sounds, so lean on the emphasised syllable.
Not really — staff and friends will know what you mean, and even wine professionals disagree on native versus anglicised readings. These respellings are simply the versions you'll be understood using; confidence beats perfection.
Know what to open tonight — and never miss a wine at its peak.
Add the bottles you're curious about and Saignée keeps your cellar, tracks each wine's drinking window, and helps you pair from what you own. Free Taster: up to 100 bottles — no card.
Free Taster: up to 100 bottles · 20 AI scans · 10 pairings / month
Free forever · No credit card