Is it merlot or Merlot? Grenache or grenache? And is it sauvignon blanc, Sauvignon blanc or Sauvignon Blanc? As a language professional, it is my job to know: are the names of grape varieties in wines capitalized? Admittedly, I have tried to find the rule many times, but have never come up with a satisfactory answer. So it’s time to set the record straight once and for all by summarizing my research and issuing my professional recommendation.
Skip to the answer.
Some of you may already know that my main gig is freelance translation. As a translator, you can’t just be detail-oriented, you have to be detail-obsessed.
I easily get lost in the infinite world of Google searches to find exact equivalents of specific terms, and am constantly looking up grammar rules like whether Canadian spelling favours “practicing” or “practising” (the latter), or whether all words in a heading should be capitalized (according to the Canadian Style, only if they are centred on the page). It’s no wonder I am often brain-dead at the end of the day. Thank goodness for wine.
Speaking of wine and capitalization, every time I start writing the name of a grape variety on this wine blog, I hesitate—is it chardonnay or Chardonnay?
So I set out to do some research.
Point 1: Grapes = plants = lower case
I began my research looking at the big picture. Grapes grow on a vine and can be classified as a plant. Therefore, from a grammatical standpoint, wine grapes should theoretically be treated like any other plant. In Modern English usage, the common names of plants are not capitalized. Roses are lower case, violets are too. So it would stand to reason that grapes follow suit.
Point 2: Moving away from overcapitalization
In response to the overwhelming overuse of capitals in the past few decades, there has been a recent shift in writing style standards towards less capitalization, mainly in an effort to simplify readability. Perhaps the wine industry should do the same?
Point 3: The great debate among wine and writing specialists
I then expanded my research to see how various reputable publications handle this upper case/lower case wine question.
I unearthed what turned out to be a heated debate among both wine and language professionals. Here are where these publications stand:
For caps
Against caps
Interestingly, looking at the two columns above, there is a distinct polarization based on specialization. It seems that wine professionals tend to capitalize wine varietals, whereas the general press does not.
Conclusion
I can understand that wine professionals want to highlight the importance of grape varieties by capitalizing them. That said, personally, I tend to side with the language professionals on this one, simply because there’s no grammatical justification for capitalizing grape variety names. “Because that’s what Jancis Robinson does”—one of the top reasons used in most online forums on this matter—is not a compelling enough argument for me.
…there’s no grammatical justification for capitalizing grape variety names.
However, as with any rule in the English language, there are always exceptions.
Caveat: Exception to the lower case rule
While grape varieties like pinot noir, merlot, syrah/shiraz, malbec, cabernet sauvignon and sauvignon blanc should remain lower case when written in a sentence, capitalize wines and grapes named after the geographical place where they are made.
So there you have it. Hereinafter, barring the above exception, I shall no longer capitalize grape varieties. This also applies to wine styles, such as rosé, sherry and sparkling. Also, I’m not saying that this is an official hard-and-fast rule. It’s a judgment call that every (wine) writer has to make for themselves.
Be honest: have you ever wondered about whether wine and grapes should be capitalized in a sentence, too?
Come on, really? Am I the only one? Thanks, then, for your patience while I geeked out a bit.
What other grammar issues (wine-related or otherwise) do you find yourself constantly questioning?
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to celebrate my findings with a glass of port (lower case—”port” is indeed based on the place name of its origin, Porto, but it is a variant, so doesn’t fall under the exception above).
Happy wining!
What’s wining? I am not whining, it’s an honest question!
I’ve created a verb out of the word ‘wine’, i.e. “to wine”. It’s ok, I’m a language professional!
Thanks for writing this. From a copywriting/branding perspective, the issue I come into is the concept of the wine as a product: for example, Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc is a product, a specific item that can be purchased by the bottle. But, to my eyes, writing “Cloudy Bay sauvignon blanc” would perhaps be referring to the grapes, or perhaps the style.
For instance, I’d always write Heinz Tomato Ketchup if I was writing from the brand’s point of view (in advertising, on their website) because it’s about a specific product; removing the capitals ‘Heinz tomato ketchup’ becomes more generic.
I’m sure trademarking brings even more layers of complication, to be fair…
A penny for your thoughts on this?
Thanks for your comment! I totally agree with you on this, Hayden. When referring to a product title, I often capitalize grape varieties in conjunction with their brand name, as you propose.
I’m curious whether thinking of specific grape varieties like named cultivars of other fruits (e.g., Red Delicious apple, Bing cherry, Bosc pear) would make a difference to those publications who choose not to capitalize.
Hi Sean, thanks for your comment. Bing and Bosc are capitalized because they’re named after people. That said, I would personally also capitalize Red Delicious simply to differentiate from any apple that is red and delicious 🙂
Thank you for this thoughtful post, Mel. I encountered it because, in my role as editor of Spirit of Wine (spiritofwine.blogspot.com) I have for years been aggressively de-capitalizing grape varietals which are not place names. And yet, I have seen how few of my wine industry colleagues also do so. So it is a lonely region in which to toil! To drown my worries, I shall now retire to my Living Room and open a Bottle of petite syrah (which I just saw described in that spelling by LeBaron Ranch, as distinct from the more common petite sirah – this is another linguistic rabbit hole! Of course, LeBaron referred to it as Petite Syrah. So many violations – so little time!)
Glad to hear you agree with the de-capitalization consensus! You and I will have to keep fighting the good fight, one post and one bottle at a time 😉
I had this exact discussion with my editor. I wrote a book on wine that will be published this October. In the first round of edits she knocked all grapes to lower case. However, not knowing wine, she didn’t know which were grapes and which were places. And then there are both, like Beaujolais Nouveau. In the end, I chose to STET all of her changes and put them back. I believe it is less confusing for the reader.
If I ever write for the Washington Post I’ll change my opinion, but I wrote the book for wine people, and they like caps.
Fair enough! The most important thing is consistency. Pick one and stick with it! What’s your book called? I’ll keep an eye out for it!
Thanks for emailed reply. My book is called Tales From The Wine Floor: 100 Questions Asked of a Sommelier.
It is published by Rowman & Littlefield and is set for release on Oct. 1sr.
This is helpful, thank you. Right now, I’m struggling with Malmsey wine from Malvasia grape varietals. I had originally capitalised Malmsey but used lower case for malvasia. My editor has switched those two around – lower case malmsey and capitalised Malvasia. I think she’s probably right but I’m in that “everything looks wrong” phase of editing. I’m mulling over it – wish I had a glass of Malmsey to inspire me.
Hmm an interesting conundrum! I agree with your editor that wine types not named after a geographical region should be lower case. And while I don’t tend to capitalize varietal names on their own (unless they are part of a bottle of wine’s official name), it is common practice in the wine press world. Hope you eventually got that glass of malmsey (a new one for me!) and best of luck with the editing!
I’m sure there is a larger grammatical answer to my question, but what if you are referring to a grape varietal from a specific wine producing region? Should it be South African chenin blanc? Or, South African Chenin Blanc? Does the regional modifier change anything? Also, I am terribly sorry for what I assume is awful grammar in this reply.
Hi Sam,
That’s a great question. This whole issue is more stylistic than grammatical, so if you are writing for a particular publication, you should follow their stylistic guidelines. Otherwise, in your situation, I would tend to keep your South African chenin blanc lower case. The only time I personally capitalize a grape variety is when referring to a specific wine label/name/title, like Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc or Trail Estate Skin Fermented Riesling (when written out in full, almost like a proper noun!). Hope this helps, and thanks for reading! Happy wining!
But is it Chardonnay or chardonnay? The grape does originate from a place called Chardonnay, doesn’t it? But I would think this one is a clear case of lowercase.
Scott, that is a super interesting point. I wasn’t even aware that Chardonnay was also the name of a village near Bourgogne. Upon researching further, it doesn’t seem like the grape is named after the village, nor did it originate there, so it’s safe to use lower case. Thanks for reading and for teaching me something new!
Huh, neat! I have never thought about it…. though I guess in the emails about the Pinot Grigio, I put capitals. I would never have thought about capitalizing ‘champagne’ though… but then again, I just learned (learnt? lol) in reading your post that it’s named after the region. Oops! 🙂 Being French speaker as well (like you), I also have a hard time keeping things straight between the two languages. I said, ‘subStraction’ in English for the longest time and wrote’ exerciSe’ in French for the longest time. You know what the answer is? Write in Thai… there are no caps at all! 😀
Yes, it’s definitely hard to keep all the rules straight when you write in multiple languages. I think I was about 27 when I finally learned how to spell exercise in English 🤣
Mel, I enjoyed this article so much! I’m a former EFL/ESL teacher and writer who loves words and crafting sentences. I openly admit to fussing over the capitalization issue, along with lamenting the loss of adverbs…what happened to quickly? Why does everything happen “fast” now?
Cheers!
Jane, I feel your pain! In all honesty I started writing this post years ago, but never got around to finalizing it. Eventually I couldn’t stand the ongoing internal argument with myself on the capitalization issue and decided to just do the research and make a decision for myself. I’m glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading!