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After I read a — how can I put this gently? — not flawless transliteration of the ampelonym (grape name) Teroldego in Eric the Red’s recent article devoted to the grape variety, I felt that something needed to be done (and because Eric is a friend and a blogging colleague, I knew he wouldn’t mind).
My first thought was to record my own voice speaking the grape name and post shortly videos on YouTube. After all, I do possess a Ph.D. in Italian, I lived for many years in Italy, I travel there 3 or 4 times a year, and my Italian colleagues acknowledge that I speak Italian with native-speaker proficiency (however with a Padua accent).
But then it occurred to me: wouldn’t it be cool if I could get native Italian grape growers and winemakers to record themselves pronouncing the names of native grapes?
My first call was to Elisabetta Foradori, arguably the most famous producer of Teroldego and the subject of Eric’s article. I have never met her but she was kind enough to take my call and she laughed warmly when I described my idea to her. A few weeks later, she sent me a recording of her enunciating the ampelonym. The video above is the first in a series of the “Italian Grape Name Pronunciation Project” that I will post on YouTube and archive here at Do Bianchi.
I hope that this project will serve as a useful tool to wine professionals and wine lovers all over the world.
IF YOU ARE AN ITALIAN GRAPE GROWER OR WINEMAKER AND WOULD LIKE TO APPEAR IN THIS SERIES, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO EMAIL ME AN MP3 OR ANY OTHER KIND OF AUDIO FILE (OR VIDEO) OF YOU PRONOUNCING THE NAME(S) OF NATIVE GRAPE VARIETIES.
Do Bianchi 
Jeremy sei grande! Aderisco al progetto, domani ti mando i files sulle uve siciliane :)
@Marilena perfetto! :-) Inzolia, in particolare secondo me, è difficile per quelli non italofoni! Grazie!
Brilliant initiative! Please, next episode on Garganega, I’ve heard the proper Italian version but can’t reproduce it.
What a brilliant idea! I can get Marco to shout Sangiovese but I bet you have that covered… you should come to Vinitaly with a Flip camera!
This post wins the internet on Monday the 28th.
Excellent! where were you when I needed you?
Great idea, Jeremy. I hope other wine bloggers from countries with indigenous grapes varieties are following your example.
Great idea! Would you mind if I copied you and did the same thing with Spanish grape varieties?
Jeremy,
Brilliant idea – love it and keep more coming – could be like vocabulary word of the day
Yes I second that brilliant idea. I enjoy your blog!
Cheers,
Jeremy! You are so way ahead that if you look back… you see the future!
Thanks to everyone for all your support and encouragement with the project. I’ve already received a number of audio files and will begin posting them to YouTube this weekend for next Monday’s installment. And yes, I hope that folks will create similar projects/programs for other countries. Thanks, everyone!
Great idea!
There is something similar for German wines:
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