I was listening to The Splendid Table’s podcast yesterday on the way home and stopped in my tracks when I heard the discussion regarding Pinot Noirs of Oregon. Lynne Rossetto Kasper, the host, was interviewing Food and Wine magazine’s Senior Editor, Ray Isle about Pinot Noir. The crux of the interview was about how much Pinot Noir is on the market and how some of it is pretty bad because it has become the wine of the moment. Lynne asked for some recommendations and this purveyor of fine wines suggested Raptor Ridge, a winery in “Oregon’s Willamette Valley.” This is where I choked on my own spit! This “wine guy” pronounced it “willa met” instead of “wil lam ette.” Oregonians know what I mean. He then went on to discuss the Russian River valley in California, but pronounced that one right. I can’t believe a wine editor doesn’t know how to pronounce the name of the wines he is suggesting.

To go further, Lynne Rosetto Kasper has been advertising a trip to Oregon this summer for her readers to taste some of the fine wines of the Willamette Valley and she pronounces it right. I can’t believe she didn’t correct him or even say something after the interview. I understand people have trouble with regional pronunciations, yet when you are the Senior Editor of a wine magazine, one would think you would do your homework.