Palate, Pallette or Pallete?

Over on wine-searcher.com, I found these 3 spellings. Do we use all 3!!!!

[Robin Garr]

Over on wine-searcher.com, I found these 3 spellings. Do we use all 3!!!!

Bob, here you go:

1. Pallette is a painter's board.

2. Palate is the roof of your mouth, used metaphorically to describe the taste of wine or one's sensibility toward wine.

3. Pallet is a wooden form used to load heavy materials in an industrial setting.

4. Pallete, I believe, is a word with no meaning.

I happen to know, however, that Wine-Searcher.com intentionally incorporates many common misspellings in its database, so people who come close to the right word will get a hit rather than a miss. It's A Good Thing.

Bob, here you go:

1. Pallette is a painter's board.

2. Palate is the roof of your mouth, used metaphorically to describe the taste of wine or one's sensibility toward wine.

3. Pallet is a wooden form used to load heavy materials in an industrial setting.

4. Pallete, I believe, is a word with no meaning.

This should be required reading for everyone who posts to a wine forum!

Flavor, savor, savory...no end to the fun here!

1. Pallette is a painter's board.

Is this a British versus American English thing? I always spell a painter's board "palette".

1. Pallette is a painter's board.

Is this a British versus American English thing? I always spell a painter's board "palette".

Me too. But I think Robin can be excused, he got both of the ones that apply to wine correct! (I'm counting pallet, which is 56 cases in standard winery-ese I believe).

To further Robin's "used metaphorically to describe the taste of wine or one's sensibility toward wine," personally I use "palate" to differentiate flavors in mouth from aromas on nose (though they're both really mostly smell).

So I don't use a palette. I sometimes find different things on the palate than the nose. Many people think I have a crappy palate. Sometimes I taste a great wine and want to buy a pallet, but I don't have storage (or money).

Then of course there is the AOC in Provence, Palette, the smallest major wine region in Provence with most of the vineyards being owned by Château Simone.

Cheers, Anders

So I don't use a palette.

I use "palette" to encompass the range of flavours or aromas, e.g. "the wine displays a broad palette of floral aromas".

And, of course, Château Simone's AOC.

Over on wine-searcher.com, I found these 3 spellings. Do we use all 3!!!!

3. Pallet is a wooden form used to load heavy materials in an industrial setting.

Sounds like the palate of some folk

[Robin Garr]

1. Pallette is a painter's board.

Is this a British versus American English thing? I always spell a painter's board "palette".

No, it is me being stupid and not looking up stuff before I bloviate.

That said, I think I did a pretty darn good job of pulling all that out of my back pocket with only one ... um, would you believe it's a typo?

Bob, here you go:

1. Pallette is a painter's board.

2. Palate is the roof of your mouth, used metaphorically to describe the taste of wine or one's sensibility toward wine.

3. Pallet is a wooden form used to load heavy materials in an industrial setting.

4. Pallete, I believe, is a word with no meaning.

This should be required reading for everyone who posts to a wine forum!

A wine forum my foot, Mike. You should see how many PR people misuse the spelling in their press releases!

That said, I think I did a pretty darn good job of pulling all that out of my back pocket with only one ... um, would you believe it's a typo?

Not a typo, just the wrong definition According to my dictionary, a pallette is "a plate in the armpit of a suit of armor". So you can add that to the list, although I doubt there will be much call to use it.

I dunno..........."my Blue Num has the smell and flavor of a plate in the armpit of a suit of armor".

[David M. Bueker]

Blue Num?

How about variety or varietal? I just love the thread (on you know where) trying to justify the improper use of varietal.

David, I think we had a lengthy discussion here, earlier this year, on said subject...variety or varietal.

[David M. Bueker]

David, I think we had a lengthy discussion here, earlier this year, on said subject...variety or varietal.

Indeed. Of course it's variety, unless one is dicussing a varietal wine or varietal characteristics.

Doesn't Pallet rhyme with Ballet?

I find it quite interesting linguistically that the French translation of palate is palais meaning palace - perhaps rather than treating their bodies like temples, the French treat their mouths as palaces.

Also, for anyone who is still confused, perhaps I could suggest this sentence.
The bottle of Ch. Simone Palette taken off the pallet (of 56 cases) showed a palette of flavours (sorry, flavors) on the palate.

The bottle of Ch. Simone Palette taken off the pallet (of 56 cases) showed a palette of flavours (sorry, flavors) on the palate.

Brilliant, Lorch!
/A

... showed a palette of flavours (sorry, flavors) on the palate.

No need to be sorry for using correct spelling. Flavour, savour, favour all point you out as a man of learning, unlike these untutored ex-colonials that roam this board.....

No need to be sorry for using correct spelling. Flavour, savour, favour all point you out as a man of learning

Pretty sure Wink is not a man of learning.

OK, that's learned me ... have added a picture (I think!) ...

Very nice, Wink! That one should certainly stop these rather frequent mistakes.
/A

[Robin Garr]

Flavour, savour, favour all point you out as a man of learning, unlike these untutored ex-colonials that roam this board.....

Actually, our way was proper English for centuries until Dr. Sam'l Johnson came along and spelt it wrong.