The names of drinks, spirits and wines like Cognac, Chianti and Calvados are familiar to many of us. But where do these hard-to-pronounce names originally come from?
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High Five: 5 places not known for their party past
Most people may have heard these names before: spirits and wines like Cognac, Chianti or Calvados. But do you know where these more or less hard-to-pronounce names come from?
Image: Imago/blickwinkel/E. Wodicka
Cognac
This golden-brownish brandy traditionally served in its characteristic round glass is known around the world. But what most people probably don't know is that Cognac is also a town in western France. That's where, in the 18th century, vintner Rémy Martin discovered how to preserve his wine by distilling it, which enabled him to transport his product all over the world. Cognac became an export hit.
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Rioja
One of the most popular Spanish red wines, almost 300 million liters of Rioja are sold every year. The wine's name, hard for non-Spaniards to pronounce, refers to a region as well as a river. The Rio Oja runs through the region of La Rioja in northern Spain where wine has been cultivated for almost thousand years.
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Chianti
Chianti was long considered a relatively cheap table wine. It's typically offered in bottles covered in raffia. But Chianti is also a region in Tuscany where wine has been produced for centuries. Following an attempt by vintners to improve its quality, it's only rarely available anymore in the more traditional bast bottles.
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Calvados
A brandy made of apples, Calvados is produced by distilling cider. What sounds like a Spanish product actually comes from Normandy, where for the last 450 years, the spirit has been produced in the eponymous Département Calvados. In late summer and into fall, huge amounts of apples specifically intended for Calvados are harvested there. You need roughly 20 kilos of apples to produce one liter!
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Prosecco
Bubbly Prosecco has also been given its name in connection with a place. Located in the outskirts of the city of Trieste in northern Italy, the village of Prosecco's name was derived from a Slovenian term meaning "path through the forest." A particular grapevine was cultivated in Prosecco and further west in the region of Venetia, which was then used in the sparkly wine's production.
Image: Imago/blickwinkel/E. Wodicka
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Some of the stories behind these names are almost poetic. Merlot, for example, is said to have been derived from the French word "merle" which means blackbird, whereas "merlot" means" small blackbird." Maybe what the wine and the bird have in common is the black color of the feathers and the grapes.
The names "ambrusco" and "lambrusco" are derived from a Latin word denoting "wild wine." Tempranillo means "a bit early," possibly referring to the fact that tempranillo grapes are harvested some weeks before other Spanish red grapes can be harvested.
In some cases, it's easy to guess what the origin of a name could be. Corn, for example, should be clear enough. But it's a different story when it comes to the traditional drink whiskey. The word comes from the Scottish-Gaelic term "uisge beath" or the similar Irish term "uisce beatha." With a bit of imagination one can recognize the word "whiskey" into which these strange words developed over time. What the word means in English is "water of life."
In some cases, places and regions play a role in the name--giving process. We all know that champagne comes from the Champagne region of France. But what about the names of the drinks in our high five ranking?
