hanepoot, noun

/ˈhɑːnəpʊət/
Forms:
haanen-poot, haanepootShow more Formerly also haanen-poot, haanepoot, haenapod, haenapode, haen-pode, hahnen pootgen, hahnepote, hanapoot, hanepod, hanepoort, hanepot, haneport, hanne poot; occasionally with initial capital.
Origin:
South African Dutch, DutchShow more South African Dutch, from Dutch, combining form of haan cock + poot claw; a euphemistic substitution for hanekloot (kloot testicle), in Dutch a name given to the figwort Ficaria verna; see quotations 1927 and 1944.
1. A variety of muscat grape, Muscat d’ Alexandrie, used as a dessert fruit, and for raisin- and wine-making; honeypot. Also attributive.
1801 J. Barrow Trav. I. 65A large white Persian grape, called here the haenapod.
1831 S. Afr. Almanac & Dir. 216Persons..willing to prolong the luxury of fresh grapes for the dessert, should select some bunches of the Haen-pode.
1872 ‘Z.’ in Cape Monthly Mag. V. Oct. 230We will undertake never to turn sour at a dish of ‘hahnepote’.
1891 H.J. Duckitt Hilda’s ‘Where Is It?’ 84Take nice ripe Hanepot grapes, cut them with a piece of the stalk, prick with a steel pin; fill a jar.
1896 R. Wallace Farming Indust. of Cape Col. 202Of grapes the Haanepoot, a white variety, and the Barbarossa are considered the best for the British market.
1902 H.J. Duckitt in M. Kuttel Quadrilles & Konfyt (1954) 13In making ‘Moss Bolletjies’..substitute the fermented juice of the fresh ‘Steen’ grape, or ‘Hanepoot’, for the yeast made of raisins.
1927 A.I. Perold Treatise on ViticultureThe Dutch name Hanepoot..is an intentional corruption of Hanekloot, i.e. cock’s testicle, which the berry of this variety resembles somewhat in shape and size. ‘Hanepoot’ has nothing to do with ‘cock’s foot’.
1944 Marais & Hoge tr. of O.F. Mentzel’s Descr. of Cape of G.H. III. 179We shall..describe the best types of grapes...My favourite kind..is not pressed, nor does it produce any wine. It is the ‘Haanen-Kloote’ (Cock’s testicle), but called ‘Haanen-poote’ by the ladies of Africa.
1966 H. Beck Meet Cape Wines (2nd ed.) 11Because of its fruitiness, the hanepoot, which was considered essentially a grape for dessert wine making, is sometimes used quite effectively in the making of natural wine.
1967 W.A. De Klerk White Wines 10White Hanepoot (Muscat d’Alexandrine), premier grape for good raisins and good fresh eating.
1968 W.E.G. Louw in D.J. Opperman Spirit of Vine 323Wines made chiefly from the muscadel or hanepoot grape, are usually somewhat paler.
1977 Sunday Times 6 Nov. (Mag. Sect.) 3True withond is made from the purest of hanepoot grapes, not a drop of anything else and it’s 90 per cent proof.
1985 J. Grierson in S.-Easter Aug.–Sept. 32Muscat d’Alexandrie..is..the cultivar name for the hanepoot.
1986 M. Le Chat in Sunday Times 20 July (Mag. Sect.) 32The new music..he’s putting his aloe-bitter hanepoot-sweet voice to shows another side of David Kramer.
1990 I. Du Toit in Fair Lady 21 Nov. 216An insolent pair of hanepoot-green eyes.
1992 P. Devereux in Sunday Times 29 Mar. (Mag. Sect.) 6Grapes like hanepoot, gewurztraminer, muscat and colombard frequently are overpoweringly floral.
1993 C. Eden in Food & Home Aug. 138There’d be no..Table Mountain, no hanepoot grapes, no koeksusters.
2. Sweet wine made from these grapes, unfortified for table use, and fortified as a Muscatel dessert wine. Also attributive. See also Cape wine.
1804 R. Percival Acct of Cape of G.H. 188The Hanepod made from a large white grape is very rich, but scarce and dear, and only used by the ladies at their parties.
1861 ‘A Lady’ Life at Cape (1963) 61Wine and desserts are so very cheap and varied here,..‘hanepoot’, pontac, frontignac, or sweet Constantia ports and sherries, at something less than two pence a glass!
1880 S.W. Silver & Co.’s Handbk to S. Afr. 223The Hanepoot, which when young is a pale wine, frequently becomes with age as dark as the brownest of brown sherry. Really good old Hanepoot is, perhaps, the finest of Cape wines, and in taste resembles a very fair Madeira.
1952 C.L. Leipoldt 300 Yrs of Cape Wine 203A..common Hanepoot wine is a golden coloured, fairly sweet wine.
1975 Daily Dispatch 20 Sept. 5More recently Hanepoot has found itself under the varietal name of Muscat d’Alexandrie as a premium table wine.
1982 S. Afr. Panorama Jan. 21The sweeter, heavier dessert wines such as..pontac, hanepoot and..muscadel.
1990 Excellence Vol.6 No.2Sydney Back makes an elegant hanepoot..‘a truly great wine with complex aromas that include botrytis, raisins and ripe muscat scents’, according to the judges.
1992 E. & C. Le Roux in Getaway Dec. 7A complimentary glass of sherry, muscadel or hanepoort.
A variety of muscat grape, Muscat d’ Alexandrie, used as a dessert fruit, and for raisin- and wine-making; honeypot. Also attributive.
Sweet wine made from these grapes, unfortified for table use, and fortified as a Muscatel dessert wine. Also attributive.
Entry Navigation

Visualise Quotations

Quotation summary

Senses

18011993

Browse Related Words

By Category

Plants
Wine-making Distilling and Brewing

By Origin

Dutch
hands-upper, nounn.hang, nounn. & interjectionint.
Copyright © 2025 Dictionary Unit for South African English