Other [B]Spelling Bee Sip-up[/B] or [B]Immitation Concentrate[/B]?

[Bramble]

Spelling Bee Sip-up or Immitation Concentrate ?

I bought a can of
"Alexander's Riesling* Grape Concentrate"
only the lable reads
"Alexander's Reisling Grape Concentrate" instead of
"Alexander's Riesling Grape Concentrate"

Is this a problem?

I have found cans on the internet with both spellings... and also a "Johannisberg Riesling" with the proper spelling...
so was this just a spelling/typing mistake?

Are there two similarly spelled grape varieties?
And while it now seems obvious, are there different and in what way are Johannisberg Riesling and Riesling different?

 

[Rocky]

My guess is it is one of two things:

A. a simple typo (misspelling) on the label.

B. a measure taken by the producer to use a name that is regional when the grapes are not grown in that region to satisfy government regulations similar to naming a wine "Sparkling Wine" or "Champagne Style Wine" rather than "Champagne" which denotes a wine from the Champagne Region of France.

I am not aware of two different varieties of grape with such a similar spelling. Since Riesling is a grape variety and is not a region of Germany, I tend to think it is A.

 

[sour_grapes]

I agree with Rocky. I will note, however, that "Johannisberg" is the name of a wine region in Germany.
According to Dr. Vinny (in Wine Spectator), that name is now considered protected, as in the "Champagne" example that Rocky cited:
http://www.winespectator.com/drvinny/show/id/42275

I suppose that because Alexander's is not wine, but only concentrated juice, they can get away with still calling it "Johannisberg Riesling." I also agree that the most likely explanation for the misspelling is a simple typo. (Lots of people have trouble with "ie" vs. "ei" in both English and German words.)

 

[sour_grapes]

I grant you, it is weird to see two different spellings on actual labels:

vs.

 

[Rocky]

You know, now that I see the two labels (and I had a lot of experience in Printing and Typesetting early in my career as Supervisor of Composition and Letterpress for a large Printer), it appears to me that the change was deliberate. It appears that the printer got an order for a reprint of the labels, "picked up" the old art work and stripped in the new name. You can see that the words "Johannisberg Reisling" on the second can are wider than the "Johannisberg Riesling" on the first can. Everything else seems to be the same so when a reprint was ordered, there was only a change to the name, i.e. all the rest of the artwork remained unchanged including the very expensive color separations. The only change would have been to the black printing plate. The magenta, cyan and yellow would have remained unchanged.

I did not know that Johannisberg was considered a region and that is even more support that it was deliberate.

 

[sour_grapes]

it appears to me that the change was deliberate.

Of course, it could be that it WAS a deliberate change, as you say, but that it went from the misspelled "Reisling" to the correctly spelled "Riesling" to correct a stupid mistake that made them look ignorant.

 

[terrymck]

(Lots of people have trouble with "ie" vs. "ei" in both English and German words.)

I before E, except after C. apparently works in German as well.

 

[Bramble]

In German, when side by side, the second vowel is long;
that is, it will be pronounced to sound like what we call it when we see it in the alphabet...

Riesling (with the e being second behind i) gets pronounced as Ree-sling.
Reisling would be pronounced Rye-sling.

 

[Bramble]

... "Johannisberg" is the name of a wine region in Germany.
According to Dr. Vinny (in Wine Spectator), that name is now considered protected, as in the "Champagne" example that Rocky cited:
http://www.winespectator.com/drvinny/show/id/42275

Ha!

I had been thinking they ment Johannisburg Africa;
When I worked picking Riesling grapes along the Rhine,
the owner often talked about the Germans who had gone to Africa and were making wine there.

berg and burg have always been like banana skins to slip on....

 

[Bramble]

I grant you, it is weird to see two different spellings on actual labels:

Thanks for the images... so both Riesling AND Johannisberg Riesling exist with the two spellings.

I understood what Rocky said about typesetting but must admit I do not see it in the images posted here...
wait- yes I see the that the text length is reversed and different between the first two lines...

I know companies will make minor (often secret) changes that can be a sort of code to indicate manufacturering differences that are intended to be invisable to the consumer.

Now, more than even before I'd like to know what is behind and inside Alexander's 4 Rieslings!

 

[sour_grapes]

(Lots of people have trouble with "ie" vs. "ei" in both English and German words.)

I before E, except after C. apparently works in German as well.

No, this is not the case. There are many, many German words spelled -ei- that do not begin with C. (Actually, C is not used much auf Deutsch.)

Of course, the full version of the English mnemonic is something like "I before E, except after C, or when it rhymes with A, like neighbor or weigh." Perhaps German schulekinder are taught something like "except when it rhymes with -ai-, like mein oder klein."

 

[sour_grapes]

Ha!

I had been thinking they ment Johannisburg Africa;

Of course, that would be Johannesburg. With an "e" rather than an "i" in the first part of the word.

When I worked picking Riesling grapes along the Rhine,

Whoa! There must be a story there, and I would love to hear it!!

 

[Rocky]

"When I worked picking Riesling grapes along the Rhine,..."

"Whoa! There must be a story there, and I would love to hear it!!"

Hey Guys, so would I! I did a Rhine River cruise this Summer past acres and acres of vineyards. My question is, How do those picking the grapes keep from falling off the steep vineyards?

 

[sour_grapes]

Geez, Rocky, it's a wonder I haven't bumped into you before!

(Cf. http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/showpost.php?p=482886&postcount=650 )

 

[Rocky]

Geez, Rocky, it's a wonder I haven't bumped into you before!

Isn't that the truth! I was on the Rhine in late June of this year, probably the 13th or the 14th. The name of our boat was "Vater Rhein." (Father Rhine) Wouldn't it be a blast if we were on the same boat?!

 

[sour_grapes]

No such luck! We were on the boat pictured below. (Plus it was about a decade ago!) The name of the boat is evidently "GEW RheinEnergie." This is the name of the local gas, electricity, and water (hence "GEW") company. I am unsure whether that company actually runs the boat, or if the name of the boat is more like an advertisement. That same company ALSO runs the local ground transportation system AND also runs and operates the harbor, so it seems to me it could be either....