How to pronounce Champagne names: Moët, Clicquot, Krug and more

The short answer: Moët is “mo-ETT”, with the t spoken. Veuve Clicquot is “vuhv klee-KOH”. Krug is “kroog”. Taittinger is “tet-tan-ZHAY” in French. Below are the names a sommelier is asked about most, how to say them, where each house is, and the one wine to know.

Three rules that fix most names

• Final consonants are usually silent: Clicquot ends in “koh”, Ruinart in “nar”, Philipponnat in “nah”.
• Two dots over an e mean say it: the dots tell you to sound the e on its own, so Moët and Perrier-Jouët end in a spoken “ett”, t included.
• -er and -et at the end sound like “ay”: Roger is “ro-ZHAY”, Perrier is “pair-ee-AY”, Gosset is “go-SAY”.

The houses

What to say about each, in one line

• Ruinart was founded in 1729 and calls itself the first Champagne house.
• Gosset traces its roots to 1584 in Aÿ, when the family made still wine; it moved to Épernay in 2009.
• Veuve Clicquot: “veuve” means widow. The house credits Madame Clicquot with the riddling table in 1816.
• Pommery launched Pommery Nature in 1874, the first brut Champagne to succeed commercially, according to the house.
• Laurent-Perrier, founded in 1812, makes its Cuvée Rosé by macerating Pinot Noir on its skins rather than blending in red wine.
• Bollinger R.D. stands for “récemment dégorgé”, recently disgorged: a vintage kept long on its lees and disgorged just before release.
• Krug makes two single-vineyard wines from walled plots: Clos du Mesnil (Chardonnay) and Clos d'Ambonnay (Pinot Noir).
• Salon makes a single wine, from Chardonnay in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, and only in the years it chooses.

Growers worth knowing

A grower makes Champagne from their own vines; a house buys grapes as well. The small letters on the label tell you which: see Champagne label codes.

Label words, said right

• Champagne: in French, “shahm-PAN-yuh”; in English, “sham-PAYN”. Both are fine at the table.
• Blanc de Blancs: “blahn duh BLAHN”. Blanc de Noirs: “blahn duh NWAHR”.
• Brut: “broot”. Cuvée: “koo-VAY”. Millésime: “mee-lay-ZEEM”.
• Aÿ: “ah-EE”. Reims: “rans”, with a nasal “an”. Épernay: “ay-pair-NAY”.

At the table

Say the name once, clearly, and then talk about the wine. If a guest says “Moe-ay” and orders it, pour it with a smile and never correct them. Nobody enjoys a glass more after a lesson. The name gets you to the bottle; the feeling is what they remember.

For the villages behind these names, see Champagne Grand Cru. For the whole region, see learning Champagne at every level. For Bordeaux names, see how to say the 1855 châteaux.

Questions people ask