You've been pronouncing Moët & Chandon completely wrong all this time
Ever scanned a wine list with your loved ones and decided to order a bottle of Moët & Chandon champagne—only to realise you actually have no idea how to pronounce it when asking the waiter to fetch it for you?
Don’t worry, because you wouldn’t be the first to stumble, and you probably will not be the last either.
Pronouncing anything can be tricky, with many people saying Londis wrong, and Waitrose recently admitting shoppers have been calling it by the wrong name for years.
But don’t fear, as experts have weighed in on exactly how you say Moët & Chandon, so you will never be embarrassed in front of your in-laws at a restaurant again.
How drinkers are pronouncing Moët & Chandon
Debate is constantly roaring on social media, with fans weighing in on exactly how they believe the famed champagne brand should be pronounced.
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“Dang. I always say Mooooooo-et. I thought they were famous for cows or something,” said one Redditor.
A second alleged: “While visiting the winery, I found out that even the principals disagree on this. There was healthy debate on whether it was ‘mo-wett’… or whether the e was softer (to rhyme with ‘poet’).”
Someone else wrote: “As a native French speaker, ‘mo-et’ to rhyme with poet is totally the sound I have in mind. In French, the tréma (not an ‘umloat’) means the second vowel is pronounced separately from the first.”
“Moot Shandorn,” remarked another.
How experts pronounce Möet & Chandon
Last year, South African author Khaya Dlanga shared a video on Instagram with Pascal Asin, the former global general manager and international of Moët & Chandon, Dom Pérignon, and Mercier.
Asin, who is now the CEO of Klein Constantia wine estate in South Africa, claimed it was ‘very simple’ to pronounce the legacy brand’s moniker.
“You have to pronounce the ‘T’,” he said. ‘Mow-ett Shan-don.”
He added: “But it doesn’t matter how you pronounce it as long as you drink it.”
Asin was backed up by a French chef, Manu Feildel, who said in a video that you pronounce the ‘T’ in Möet when the two names are put together.
He argued that on its own, you would pronounce ‘Möet’ with a silent ‘T’.
Julien Miquel, a YouTuber and winemaker, disagreed with the latter point, explaining that as brand founder Claud Moët was of Dutch origin, he would not pronounce his name with a silent ‘T’.
“In brands and proper names, you adopt their pronunciation—not the pronounciation that is gramatically correct.”
Therefore, he argued that even when the names are separate, it’s always Möet & Chandon with an emphasis on the ‘T’.
Well, I think after all that, we deserve a cold glass of the bubbly stuff to calm down, don’t you?
Ella Scott