Siri's Rant about Wine Pronunciation

The Okanagan Valley is a phenomenal wine region.  I have lived here 12 years, and the wines have expanded in quality, quantity, and varietal almost exponentially in this time. We are on the world wine map 

and a destination for wine lovers and connoisseurs from around the world.

So, here is my rant.  If we make and serve wonderful wine, could we also pronounce the names of the varietals correctly?

Just to put things in context,  I am generally quite tolerant of variations in pronunciations- my name is Siri after all, and I have learned through my life that those 4 (well 3) simple letters can be pronounced dozens of different and inventive ways.  I generally just nod and smile to all of them, thinking “close enough”.  I have lived and travelled in different countries and provinces, and have a wonderful blended, extended family including people from Turkey, Australia, Romania, Spain, Britain, the United States and Ireland. I love the primary languages, accents and pronunciations of all of these people. I love and embrace cultural diversity.

So, what is bothering me? It is the mysterious and highly pervasive evolution of the pronunciation of the word sauvignon in the Okanagan.  My favourite red wine is Cabernet Sauvignon, and my favourite white is Sauvignon Blanc. I frequently order these in restaurants, and ask to taste them in wineries. A few years ago, servers would smile and serve.  Now, I am generally corrected, sometimes quite forcefully regarding my pronunciation. Generally the server pronounces cabernet correctly (CAB-AR-NAY), but they correct 

my pronunciation of sauvignon.

The correct pronunciation of sauvignon is SOH-VEE-NYON (the first syllable rhymes with “STOVE”). But if I ask for a glass of SOH-VEE-NYON, 9 times out of ten the server says to me, “Do you mean SAV-I-NEON? Like do you want CAB SAV?”(they say “SAV” like it rhymes with “HAVE”).   “Yes”, I respond, “I would like a glass of CAB SOHVE.” “Right”, they tell me, “you want CAB SAV.”

Okay, I think, “close enough”. 

But, now it is beginning to really irritate me. I think we need to pronounce these names correctly, so we don’t look like wine hicks to the rest of the world.  Perhaps we can begin with the pronunciation of sauvignon. It is a good start.  There are other battles to fight, such as Cabernet Franc, one of my other favourite varietals.  The c at the end of Franc is actually silent- the wine is “Cab Fran”, not “Cab Frank”.  But that will be a bigger battle to take on.

I have friends who are oenophiles, and even they are falling prey to the new sauvignon pronunciation phenomenon.  Until recently they pronounced sauvignon correctly, but many now hesitate, and often pronounce it in a new fusion of “sohve” and “sav" and will say “sawve”.  Clearly they have had the same bombardment that I receive!

So let’s all practice the correct pronunciation.  On line you can listen to many audio pronunciations, so you can practice on your own. I invite restaurants, bars, and wineries, to please take this on as a challenge.  Teach your staff correct pronunciations.   Yes- patrons will try to correct them, but at least they will know they themselves are correct.

Please feel free to invite us to be undercover sauvignon pronunciation police!