What does vendange mean?
Vendange is a noun borrowed from French meaning the harvest of grapes and, by extension, the grapes gathered during that harvest or the vintage associated with it. In English it appears mainly in wine-growing, wine-writing, and travel contexts, where its French character gives it a more evocative sound than the plainer harvest. A writer may describe the start of the annual vendange, report that a valley's vendanges lasted several weeks, or call a particular wine one of the region's finest vendanges. The term can therefore refer to the physical activity of picking fruit, the crop itself, and occasionally the wine or year represented by that crop. It is uncommon in everyday conversation, where grape harvest is usually clearer and more idiomatic. For readers interested in wine vocabulary, vendange is useful because it gathers the seasonal labor, the harvested fruit, and the idea of a vintage into one word while preserving a trace of the French vineyard culture from which it entered English.
nounThe harvesting of grapes, especially as a seasonal activity in wine production. It may also refer to the grapes harvested in a particular season or year.
- The seasonal harvesting of grapes for wine production.
- The grapes harvested during a particular season or from a particular place.
"The vineyard's annual vendange began before dawn."
"At the end of September, the vendange began in the vineyards."
"Her 2018 wine was widely praised as one of the valley's finest vendanges."
The plural is common for the grape-harvesting season or activity as a whole and can also refer to the grapes gathered.
"The vendanges in the valley lasted three weeks."
Vendange names the grape harvest and captures the whole French wine year in a single word.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of vendange
Vendange entered English from French, where it denotes the grape harvest and vintage. Its deeper source is the Latin vendemia, formed from vinum, meaning wine, and demere, meaning to take away or remove, alluding to taking grapes from the vines. English vintage ultimately comes from the same Latin source, while Italian preserves the closely related form vendemmia.
Related word forms
How vendange is actually used
A French-derived, somewhat literary term used mainly in wine-growing, wine-writing, and travel contexts. In everyday conversation, grape harvest is generally more natural and more immediately understood.
Easily confused with vendange
Vendange can refer to the act or season of harvesting grapes, whereas vintage usually denotes grapes, wine, or a particular year of production.