Karen Pronounces French Wine Words Part 3: Beaujolais

Plus Some Extra Descriptive Wine Words for My Francophile Wine Nerds

Nov 04, 2024

Wine is a particular passion for me, one that grew out of my longtime work in the New York City restaurant world.

In the Italian restaurant I opened with my former partner, a chef and wine expert, I used to love sitting with him in the dining room at a long wooden table in front of our wood-fired oven when the wine importer reps would come around with an open bottle of something they wanted him to taste.

Side note: you can scroll right on down to the pronunciation audio files if that’s why you’re here. Absolument. Allez-y !

He would bring out something from the kitchen to nibble on with the wine—a hunk of good parmigiano, a rosemary foccaccia, a chicken liver mousse—and I would taste alongside them, listening to the conversation, always learning.

Even after I left that restaurant (and that relationship) to start building my own business and life, I continued my wine studies and pursued the WSET Level 3 in Wines and Spirits way back in 2006. Then just this year, as a new resident in France since 2022, I decided to go deeper on my French wine knowledge and proudly passed the French Wine Scholar (FWS) certification this summer in Bordeaux.

A very proud moment, and yes, I’m wearing both my lapel pins for extra swagger.

I don’t often write about wine here as I feel it’s too specific a subject for La Flâneuse, but happily my brilliant friend Judy MacMahon asked me to write for her magazine, My French Life™, so I’ve had an outlet through which to share my love of French wine and French culture.

Since November is a wine month that is associated with Beaujolais, I decided to write a piece for MyFrenchLife™ about just that subject. But before you think that by “Beaujolais,” I mean “Beaujolais Nouveau,” let me assure you that we’re talking about the 10 Crus Beaujoulais, the best wines of the region that are often under-appreciated by the general public but well-known and well-regarded by real wine insiders, including me!

If you’d like to check out that story, which includes some background on Beaujolais plus a few recommendations, here’s a link.

French Wine Pronunciation Guide

Earlier this year I started publishing little audio guides about wine to help folks who want to order wine in France or talk about it at a French tasting, so that’s what this post is about. I’ll share how to pronounce the 10 Crus Beaujolais and a few other tasting-related words that can help you broaden your vocabulaire de dégustation (tasting vocabulary). Do remember that I’m not a French teacher, just an American with un petit accent who lives in France.

Let’s get right into it.

How to Pronounce the 10 Crus Beaujolais

These are not as easy as they look! For example, you can pronounce or not pronounce the “s” in Juliénas and in Chénas. Some people say that north of Lyon the last “s” disappears, as in “Paris” and “Chablis” where they are silent. I have always said the “s” in Juliénas and Chénas because that’s how I learned them, but either way, you’ll be understood. Yay French!

Les 10 Crus du Beaujolais