Blame it on Rioja » Blog Archive » A Grape is a Grape (is an Adjective?): “Variety” versus “Varietal”

A Grape is a Grape (is an Adjective?): “Variety” versus “Varietal”

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It’s one of those questions that has troubled me for as long as I can remember: when describing a single grape type–Chardonnay or Cabernet Sauvignon, for example–is “grape varietal” synonymous with “grape variety”?

In other words, is it correct for me to say or write, “Tempranillo is the dominant black grape varietal in Rioja”?

No, says Jancis Robinson MW, in a recent post on Catavino.

“They are used interchangeably - but wrongly!” Ms. Robinson says in a follow-up comment to a Catavino interview conducted two weeks ago in Barcelona.

“Variety is the noun and applies to plants and vines,” she explains in a clarification sent to Catavino’s Gabriella Opaz via Blackberry. “Varietal is an adjective that can be applied to wines named after the variety from which it was made! Sorry to fuss but it would be useful to keep these two terms distinct.”

Usage distinctions like these, which help writers and public speakers think more carefully about language (and potentially steer clear of public embarrassment), might be very English, but they ain’t fussy.

So here’s to you, Ms. Robinson: rock on varietally.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 3rd, 2008 at 1:05 am and is filed under General, Grape Varieties, Jancis Robinson, Tempranillo, Wine nomenclature. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

2 Responses to “A Grape is a Grape (is an Adjective?): “Variety” versus “Varietal””

fredric koeppel Says:
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Jancis is perfectly correct, as she usually is. I think that practice started in California — “fighting varietals!” — and its use always makes my skin crawl. But I’m a former English teacher, so I’m funny that way.
Why McDonald’s is bad for you « Able Grapes and Garbled Peas Says:
June 17th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
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