Moët: Mo-aye or Mo-wet?

Moët et Chandon is the most recognisable Champagne brand in the world, however there is still  confusion surrounding the correct pronunciation.  Just last night I was having this debate with friends, which prompted me to write this blog post...

Many people assume that as Moët is a French name you would pronounce it with a silent T, just like many other French words ending in T. Like this: Mo-aye. During my spout working in restaurants and bars, this was indeed the way all of my customers and colleagues would pronounce it too. It wasn't until I started working in the wine trade that someone corrected me and said that you should pronounce the T. Like this: Mo-wett. I must say I was quite surprised and perhaps a little embarrassed I had been saying it incorrectly all that time, but then so had everyone else!

Technically in French when a word is followed by a word starting with a vowel such as ‘et’ in this case, the ‘T’ would actually be pronounced. However nouns in French, which includes the name Moët, do not follow this rule apparently. The real reason behind the 'T' pronunciation is because the founder of the house, Claude Moët, was in fact of Dutch origin and the Dutch pronounce their ‘T’s at the end of a word. 

So there we go, now you know the correct way!