On Thursday, May 27, 2021 at 7:17:17 PM UTC-4, Pamela wrote in alt.usage.english:
On 15:26 27 May 2021, Quinn C said:
* occam:
On 27/05/2021 04:34, Quinn C wrote:
* Peter Moylan:
On 27/05/21 09:45, Quinn C wrote:
* Paul Wolff:

On Wed, 26 May 2021, at 13:55:48, bruce bowser
posted:
What is the actual taste difference between French Cognac and
other Cognac?

That has all the appearances of a very silly question. Cognac
is in France. It is French. Cognac brandy is French. How, then,
in this poster's thinking, can Cognac of any kind be other than
French?

Can champagne? Can Camembert or Brie? It's partly by convention,
partly by law that these questions are answered. "Cognac" for
any similar kind of brandy was pretty common in the German of my
youth, even though it wasn't allowed on the label.

Yes, these old names stick in one's mind. We've never called
non-French brandy cognac in Australia, but there have been a
number of other cases where "appelation controllée" has upset our
naming customs. The wine country in my area used to be known
especially for its Rieslings, and now I've forgotten what those
wines are now called.

Riesling is a grape variety, so it shouldn't be controlled any
more than Peeno noir. [1]

And more than once I've gone into a bottle shop and asked "Can
you remind me what sherry is called now?"

Depends. Sherry from Portugal is called port.

'Sherry' is not as generic a name as you think. It originates from
the Spanish town of Jerez (ES). Not unlike 'Port' which traces its
origins to Porto (PT).

I sense a severe lack of mental elasticity. If a guest asked you for
Sherry, and you hadn't any Sherry in the house, do you think the
replies "I don't have any Sherry, how about Scotch?" and "I don't
have any Sherry, how about Port?" are equally reasonable?

I have no problem knowing the exact definition of Sherry and still
using it generically when that's useful.

It was already mentioned that Cognac, the name of the most famous
brandy, is sometimes used generically for all (grape) brandy.
Likewise, Sherry is the most famous fortified wine, so the name is
sometimes used generically for all fortified wine.
I haven't come across that usage in the UK. Even when buying in a
supermarket, sherry is something quite specific. Same goes for Cognac.
Perhaps your usage is similar to the usage of "Coke" for any cola.
Port is famous enough that the above sentence probably wouldn't
happen in the wild - it was designed to make the underlying process
more visible - but I've heard people come back from Cyprus and
saying that they bought "some of the local Sherry, I don't remember
what it's called." Commandaria, actually, but I had to look that up
again.
Maybe they could also call it "schnapps" which has come to be applied to
syrup-sweetened alcohol with added flavourings, as opposed to the drink
it tries to imitate.

I suppose it's like being in Thailand and being served "champagne" by the
locals, which is not going to be champagne. Perhaps these incorrect names
are a combination of distance, ignorance and affordability.

Sparkling wine is frequently confused with Cava, Sekt and Prosecco.