MET workshops

Terroir, tannins and tasting: translating the wines of France

The wine market is vast, covering mass-produced plonk right through to premium elixirs. Writing, editing and translating in wine is just like in any other industry: producers, agents and importers each need to pitch their tone to their market. Wine snobbery is rife and can be an obstacle for language professionals wishing to step up their knowledge or start out in the field.

This workshop will help language professionals to produce copy that is natural, believable, idiomatic and tailored to the right wine market for their clients.

Facilitator: Ruth Simpson

Purpose: To give participants insights into how to write about French wines like a professional and help them break down the mental barrier that wine is an inaccessible speciality area.

Description: During the first part of the workshop, participants will discover how wine is made, from grape to glass, with a special focus on French wines and the lexicon used for each stage in the process (viticulture, vinification, ageing, tasting, marketing).

Next comes an interactive part, during which participants will work on translating or editing specific wine-related texts from a selection of source languages. 

The final part of the workshop will involve tasting a selection of French red and white wines. Participants will learn how to recognize and describe the elements of the tasting process and analyse wines objectively using the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) systematic approach to tasting.

Participant profile: Language professionals already working in the wine industry and those wishing to specialize in wine over the next few years.

Outcome: Participants will be able to take on wine translations or edit texts about French wine with greater confidence. They will have enhanced knowledge about the stages involved in winemaking, the terms used in the field and the style required by wine writers; and they will be able to recognize common errors and correct them with authority.

Preparation: Participants might like to look at these free resources about wine before the workshop:
www.jancisrobinson.com
www.wsetglobal.com – for a wine/spirits course near you
www.decanter.com
www.bordeaux.com/gb/Our-savoir-faire/Glossary – a great resource if you’re not sure about a term you have come across in English.

About the facilitator: Never happier than when sipping on a chilled glass of white, Ruth Simpson has been translating professionally since 2008 in the fields of wine, beauty and personal development. She lives in Chablis on her family’s wine estate and holds the WSET Level 4 Diploma. A keen singer, violinist and ukulele player, Ruth has been directing the METM choir since 2017 and loves exploring the ocean with a scuba pack on her back.